The Fallen
by Brian Bloomfield
Summary: The freedom fighters and two lost martyrs enter a journey that will take them to the very edge of their existance and push their faith to the limit. Can Mobius be saved? FIN
1. The Fallen

The Fallen  
  
Entry to 2003 NetRaptor Fanfiction Contest  
  
By Brian Bloomfield  
  
Part One  
  
Sally's fingers raced across Nicole's keyboard. She had a grave   
  
look on her face as she downloaded words from her brain to the computer   
  
before her. She had been keeping a log of recent events and was updating   
  
it.  
  
"June 3rd. Robotropolis has been devastated. It is the first   
  
time we have been able to spare Sonic, and his report was startling.   
  
Most of the big buildings are down. No factories are running. All power   
  
is out. The robots--even SWATbots--are wandering around with no orders.  
  
"We heard the earthquake was a 9.2, then heard later it was a   
  
5.4. It sure wrecked Knothole, whatever it was. We have no electricity   
  
and no running water. Many of our huts collapsed. There is one dead and   
  
fourteen injured, and we are preparing for aftershocks."  
  
Sally leaned back and ran one hand through her hair. Nicole,   
  
being battery-operated, was the only computer for miles that worked.   
  
From her position on the ground she could see across the village.   
  
Freedom Fighters and villagers alike were poking through the rubble,   
  
looking for anything worth keeping. Everyone was in a sort of daze.  
  
The earthquake had struck the previous afternoon. No one had   
  
rested much since then, and were living in terror of the inevitable   
  
aftershocks.  
  
"Sonic," someone called. Sally turned to see Tails, a bandage   
  
wound around his head, standing unsteadily beside a tree.   
  
Sally jumped up and went to him. "Tails, you shouldn't be up. Go   
  
lie down."  
  
Tails let himself be turned and escorted back to where the other   
  
injured people were. "But where's Sonic?"  
  
"He went to Robotropolis."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because--" Sally stopped and swallowed her words. Sonic had   
  
asked her not to tell Tails. "Just because," she finished.  
  
Tails gave her a cold, somewhat superior look. "They're looking   
  
for Bunnie, huh?"  
  
Sally was startled. "How did you know?"  
  
"I may have a concussion, but I'm not stupid," said Tails. "He's   
  
been worrying ever since he saw what happened to Robotropolis."  
  
*****  
  
Sonic raced down the abandoned city street deep inside   
  
Robotropolis. The only inhabitants of the devastated city were the   
  
'bots, and with the main computer offline, they just wondered around, no   
  
mission, no objective. As he sped past a group of SWATbots just standing   
  
in the street, a shiver when down his back.  
  
'This place is mondo-creepy' Sonic thought as he turned down a   
  
alleyway and stopped. 'Sooner I find Bunnie, sooner I can go home.'  
  
Sonic grabbed a manhole cover in the ground and pulled as hard as   
  
he could. After a few tries, it finally moved out of place and he   
  
dropped it onto the ground. The clang reverberated through the empty   
  
alley around Sonic. He looked down into the dark and foreboding hole and   
  
shivered. Grabbing the edge, he swung himself onto the ladder and began   
  
to make his way down to the water tunnel below. Once safely on the edge   
  
of the underground stream, he pulled out the map. At the end of the   
  
tunnel was another manhole. A building beside that was Bunnie's last   
  
reported location before the quake.   
  
'Even if she's not there, she couldn't have gotten far.' Sonic put   
  
the map away and pulled out a glow stick. All the flashlights were in   
  
use in Knothole, or they were broken. He cracked it and waited until the   
  
comforting green glow was bright, then started his journey down the   
  
tunnel.  
  
*****  
  
Sally was still updating her log when Rotor rushed in, followed by   
  
Antoine. They both were carrying what looked like large, rolled maps.  
  
She stopped typing and shot Rotor a questioning look.  
  
He smiled. "Me an' Antoine were looking through the old archives   
  
and found these."  
  
Sally took one and opened it, she immediately recognized the   
  
outline of Mobotropolis, before Robotnik's takeover. She shook her head   
  
in confusion. "What is it?"  
  
"Geological maps. Using the information Nicole picked up from the   
  
quake, we can map a estimation of aftershocks."  
  
Realizing the importance this could hold, she immediately saved   
  
her report and stepped away from Nicole. "By all means."  
  
Rotor sat at the keyboard and typed while Antoine rattled off long   
  
chains of numbers from the maps. After a few minutes, they finished.   
  
Rotor loaded a list of possible aftershocks and their locations.  
  
"We're in luck Princess. Most of these will be very quiet. One   
  
however, will be kinda rough, but we're far enough away from it's   
  
epicenter that..."  
  
"Wait!" Sally spoke quickly. "Where will it strike?"  
  
Rotor typed a little more and brought up a map of Robotropolis.   
  
"It'll be a 2.9 and it'll hit in sector 12 of Robotropolis in 4   
  
minutes."  
  
Sally looked at the map and turned a very unhealthy color. Just a   
  
few hundred feet from the epicenter was the main water tunnel in   
  
Robotropolis. The tunnel Sonic had to go through.  
  
*****  
  
Sonic was approaching a S-curve in the tunnel when his glow stick   
  
suddenly began to pulse softly. He stopped puzzled, and walked forward a   
  
little bit. The pulsing increased in intensity. Sonic backed up and the   
  
soft glow returned to normal.  
  
"What the hey...?" Sonic said softly to no one in particular. He   
  
shook his head and continued forward. He had to investigate.  
  
Soon the glow stick was wildly pulsing. He continued on, a little   
  
unnerved. Without warning, the glow stick died and started to become icy   
  
in his grip. He dropped it in surprise letting it clatter to cement   
  
before rolling into the water. He reached into his pack for another glow   
  
stick, but found the remaining were frozen solid.  
  
'This is too bizarre...' Sonic thought. He continued forward in   
  
the dark. Soon, he thought he saw a soft green glow in the tunnel ahead.  
  
*****  
  
"What's wrong, Sal?" Rotor asked, confused by her reaction at what   
  
he thought was good news. She picked up a piece of paper and handed it   
  
to Rotor. He quickly read it and looked back up at her. She was   
  
fingering her golden wedding ring.  
  
"If Sonic's in that tunnel when the quake hits..." Rotor began.   
  
Sally nodded. He didn't need to say anymore. If Sonic was in the tunnel   
  
when the quake hit, the tunnel would collapse, crushing her husband   
  
under tons of rubble and steel. They'd never be able to find the body.  
  
*****  
  
Sonic rounded the curve and stopped, shocked. Floating above the   
  
water was a glowing sphere, green energy arching across it's silver   
  
surface. Mist drifted down from it onto the water's surface.  
  
"What in the world?" Sonic murmured, slightly alarmed by the   
  
unknown. He had never seen anything like this. His hands began to feel   
  
cold and clammy.  
  
"Man...Sorry, Bunnie, but I am outta here..." Sonic began to turn   
  
when he thought he felt something. He saw the water was trembling   
  
slightly.  
  
*****  
  
Rotor looked at Nicole's screen as small lines on a graph began to   
  
move slightly. The countdown clock in the corner reached zero. The lines   
  
built in intensity.  
  
"Here we go..." Rotor croaked. Sally gripped the back of the chair   
  
tightly. Her knuckles were a deathly white.  
  
*****  
  
Sonic heard a rumble and the world began to shake around him.   
  
Oddly, after a few seconds, the trembling lessened. He looked back and   
  
saw the sphere was glowing brighter and brighter. Energy began to arch   
  
to the water's surface. A deathly silence settled around him as the   
  
trembling stopped completely. He turned and began to quickly make his   
  
way back down the tunnel when a bright flash of light came from behind   
  
him. He was turning when a massive rumbling began to fill the tunnel.   
  
Then the world exploded. A high pitched whistling filled the air as the   
  
sphere burst into fire. The shockwave knocked Sonic off of his feet.   
  
Looking at where the sphere had been, Sonic saw something. Barely   
  
conscious, Sonic's last thought before he passed out was 'It kinda looks   
  
like...sand...'  
  
*****  
  
Rotor stared at his monitor. "What in the world is going on?"   
  
Sally shook her head. "It's as if the quake keeps...hesitating...that's   
  
impossible, the sensor must be faulty!"  
  
Rotor looked at the growing reading and shook his head. "No,   
  
something else is going on...something we've never seen before." Rotor   
  
turned towards Sally. "It's like something is absorbing the quake's   
  
energy. And if he's still alive, I bet I know who's responsible for   
  
this."  
  
*****  
  
"Phoenix armed for detonation, Doctor."  
  
In the darkened control room in the middle the ruined city,   
  
Robotnik sat, bleeding, semiconscious, at the only active computer in   
  
the room. He concentrated on making sure he finished his last task.  
  
"After years of fighting, I finally have been defeated..."   
  
Robotnik thought out loud in the desolate control room as he entered   
  
commands into the machine. Snively was gone, killed in the quake.  
  
Robotnik continued. "But not by those meddling morons in the   
  
forest. I have been defeated by the city I ruled with an iron fist. Now,   
  
that city rules me." Robotnik pressed enter, watching data pour by on   
  
the monitor.  
  
"But, before I bid farewell to this planet, I have a gift."   
  
Robotnik pushed a button labeled "Buildup to Detonation" and a timer   
  
clicked on marked for 30 seconds. He let his finger rest on a button   
  
marked "Commit".  
  
"Now is the time for the Phoenix to burn." Robotnik sputtered with   
  
his dying breath. He smiled coldly.  
  
"At least I'll finally get that blasted hedgehog..." Robotnik   
  
pushed the button as he stopped breathing. The click was like a scream   
  
in the silent control room. The timer began to count down silently. A   
  
distant rumble could be felt.  
  
*****  
  
In the tunnel, the sand sphere was beginning to rotate rapidly. It   
  
flattened out into a disk shape with a bump in the middle. This bump   
  
began to turn blood red.  
  
*****  
  
In the control room, Robotnik slouched over the console, the timer   
  
on the panel reached zero.  
  
*****  
  
In Knothole, Tails, having been released by the doctor, was   
  
standing on the last standing lookout tower, watching Robotropolis when   
  
he saw a giant explosion, flames licking the coal-black sky.   
  
'That would be Sonic, making an exit.' Tails thought at first.   
  
Then as he watched, something strange began to happen. What looked like   
  
a violent sandstorm began to build over the explosion. The storm began   
  
to push it's way outward and envelope the city. All the buildings in the   
  
storms path began to crumble. In a few minutes he watched the storm   
  
envelope and destroy the entire city in a sort of hypnotic trance. He   
  
was shaken back into reality by a single thought.  
  
'The storm's heading for Knothole.'  
  
Before he even knew what he was doing, he jumped from the lookout   
  
tower and flew quickly to the hut Amy and Rouge shared. Running in, he   
  
found them both making repairs to the wall in their kitchen.  
  
"Quick, get to the Tornado!" Before he could explain, he was out   
  
and running towards Sally's hut. He was driven by a single, riveting   
  
thought.  
  
"When that thing gets here, we better be gone."  
  
*****  
  
Sally was gaping at the sight before her. She had just seen a dust   
  
cloud destroy her city...and her husband. She had no doubts Sonic was   
  
dead. When Tails barged into her hut, Antoine and Rotor were already   
  
gone, leaving her alone to bear witness to the carnage of the storm.  
  
"Come on, Sally! We've got to go!" Tails grabbed her arm but she   
  
shrugged him off. He stared at her in wonder.  
  
"What's wrong with you! We need to leave, NOW!" Tails grabbed her   
  
arm again but she pushed him off.  
  
"Run Tails, run while you still can." Tails gazed at her in   
  
amazement.  
  
'She's gone mad.' Tails thought as she turned back to Nicole to   
  
watch the storm build. He turned and ran from the hut, heading for the   
  
Tornado. He wanted to stay and make Sally come with him, but he knew he   
  
couldn't.  
  
He knew he was out of time.  
  
*****  
  
Tails ran up to the Tornado and leaped in, slamming the cabin door   
  
shut behind him. Amy and Rouge were in the passenger compartment,   
  
strapping in.  
  
"Hold on, this is going to be rough." Tails said as he walked into   
  
the cockpit. He jumped into the Pilot's seat and began starting the   
  
Tornado's engines. Once started he aligned the plane with the runway and   
  
pushed the throttle all the was forward. The Tornado hurled down the   
  
runway as the edge of the storm reached the other side of Knothole.   
  
Pulling back on the yoke, the Tornado began to gain air. The plane began   
  
to jerk as the tail caught the edge winds of the storm, which had   
  
already consumed half of Knothole. Tails flipped on the afterburners and   
  
the Tornado surged forward. Behind the rising plane, Knothole   
  
disintegrated.  
  
End of Part One  
  
Part Two  
  
Rain was thundering against the ground in the abandoned ruins of   
  
Station Square. It had been in a state of desolation since the beginning   
  
of the Great War. No one knew what had happened to the Overlanders   
  
there, one night they had just disappeared. The buildings were in a state   
  
of pitiful disrepair. One building, however, looked well-cared for. The   
  
white paint looked like it was fresh, flowers bloomed out front, and the   
  
building stood tall and sound. It was a church. The front doors opened   
  
out into the rain and reveled a jet black creature clothed in a robe.   
  
His white gloves pulled back his hood reveling his face. He shut his   
  
maroon eyes and looked up into the refreshing rain. He stayed like this   
  
for several moments, thinking back to the day he had died.  
  
He had been on his way to Station Square, when he ran into a   
  
convoy of Robotnik's robots. They had overtaken him and followed their   
  
programming, leaving him for dead after 15 grueling hours of   
  
"interrogation".  
  
After this there was a blank, then he had woke up, lying on a   
  
grave, his name on the stone. It had terrified him at first, waking up   
  
in an abandoned city, but over the years he had become accustomed to   
  
the isolation. He had taken up the priesthood of the church, restoring   
  
it to it's former splendor. He now spent the days worshiping or reading.  
  
But not tonight, tonight he stood in the rain and he listened. It   
  
was the same voice that had guided him since he awoke, the voice full   
  
of love and compassion, like a mother talking to a child.  
  
"Prepare. You have company coming."  
  
Over and over the voice repeated itself. Finally, after a few   
  
minutes, the voice stopped, and he walked back inside to change his   
  
soaking robe. He had a lot to do.  
  
*****  
  
A hour later, in the graveyard of the church, rain continued to   
  
pour down upon the earth. All was still, the water pooling on the ground   
  
in the night. In the back corner of the graveyard, something, almost   
  
unseen, moved. For a moment longer, all was still again. Then a dirty   
  
white glove pushed through the muddy graveyard soil. A red arm clawed for   
  
purchase, dragging a red echidna out into the night.  
  
Gripping a wound on his stomach, the echidna wailed in agony.   
  
Inside the church, the priest raised his head. He thought he had heard   
  
something.  
  
*****  
  
"Give us your money punk!" The leader, Knuckles thought he was the   
  
leader, demanded, shoving Knuckles roughly against the dirty brick wall   
  
in the dark alley. Knuckles grinned.  
  
"Please..." Knuckles said. Did these punks realize who they were   
  
dealing with? The guarding of Angel Island had no time to deal with   
  
punks. Knuckles gave the idiot a swift uppercut, knocking him backwards.   
  
Before he realized what had happened, he heard a sharp crack as another   
  
punk stepped forward. Knuckles felt something wet on his shirt. He   
  
looked down and nearly passed out.  
  
'Ohnononono...' Knuckles thought as he became lightheaded. He slid   
  
down the wall and the gang stepped forward and began searching him for   
  
money, jewelry.  
  
'Can't they even wait until I'm dead?' Knuckles thought. He slid   
  
into blackness.  
  
*****  
  
But not tonight. Tonight Knuckles was very much awake, and in   
  
pain. Oh the PAIN! His shouts of agony tore through the silent night   
  
like a banshee, delivering the news of torture for all to hear. He   
  
gripped his midsection for what seemed like forever, before passing out.  
  
When he slowly came to, the first this he noticed was that he   
  
wasn't in pain any longer. The second was that he was dry and warm. He   
  
sat up in the cot he was laying on. Next to him was a bookcase, filled   
  
with hardback volumes, all dog-eared and well-worn. On his other side   
  
was a fire place, keeping the room warm on the chilly night. He stood up   
  
to find no evidence he was ever wounded. At all. No scar tissue, just   
  
perfect skin covered with red fur. He also found himself in a robe.  
  
"Where am I, a church?" Knuckles thought out loud.  
  
The door opened and a black hegdehog walked in. "As a matter of   
  
fact, you are." The hedgehog reached out his hand. "I'm Shadow, the   
  
priest here. Welcome to Station Square."  
  
Shaking Shadow's hand, Knuckles introduced himself.  
  
"Knuckles."  
  
Shadow laughed a little. "Well, you seem to be alright. Would you   
  
like something to eat?"  
  
A few minutes later, both of them were sitting down at the wooden   
  
table in the kitchen. Knuckles was full of questions.  
  
"Where did you find me?" Knuckles asked, putting a spoonful of   
  
oatmeal into his mouth.  
  
"Outside, in the grave yard." Shadow said levelly, sipping a cup   
  
of coffee. Knuckles let his spoon clatter loudly into his empty bowl.  
  
"Wait, what do you mean in the graveyard?" Shadow put his coffee   
  
down on the table and pulled his hood up.  
  
"I want to show you something. Follow me."  
  
Numbly, Knuckles followed Shadow back out into the freezing night.   
  
It had stopped raining and was still dark, but Knuckles could tell from   
  
the charcoal gray sky it was almost dawn.  
  
Shadow stopped next to a grave. "This is where I found you." He   
  
pointed down to the hole in the ground, just big enough to let a person   
  
through.  
  
Knuckles went down to his knees in shock. "...how..how   
  
am..how...?"  
  
Shadow got on his knees and wrapped an arm around the trembling   
  
echidna.  
  
"Come back inside and I'll explain." Shadow said softly to   
  
Knuckles. Knuckles didn't move.  
  
"I'll just say this. You are chosen. Just as I am." Shadow got to   
  
his feet. "Come inside, and I'll tell you your fate." Shadow turned and   
  
walked across to graveyard. Knuckles heard the oak church door open and   
  
close. After a few more minutes of thinking, Knuckles followed.  
  
Inside, they both sat down at the table again, Shadow pouring   
  
Knuckles a cup of coffee. They both sat and waited. Finally, Shadow   
  
began to speak.  
  
"Knuckles, the planet is in grave danger. Dr. Ivo Robotnik was   
  
killed in a earthquake on the southern continent, but he activated a   
  
weapon of sorts before he died. A sand storm is building, massive. Right   
  
now it covers almost half of the southern continent. Eventually, it will   
  
engulf the entire planet, destroying everything and everyone in it's   
  
path." Shadow paused to drink his coffee.  
  
"We both were killed. I woke up in almost the same place you did.   
  
After a while, I got used to the idea. I took over this church, and   
  
that's when I heard her voice. Destiny. The mother of creation."  
  
Knuckles looked at Shadow in surprise. Shadow thought the look was   
  
a skeptical look.  
  
"We've both been awaken for one purpose. We are here to stop the   
  
destruction of Mobius. During my time here, I have gained insight into   
  
some things. I have come to realize that all life is precious.   
  
Overlanders and Mobians alike." Shadow stood.  
  
"After this is all over, you can do what you wish. You may return   
  
to the planet, to Destiny's cradle. Or you can live forever. It's   
  
entirely up to you. We are the only ones who can do this, Knuckles. But   
  
we won't be alone either. Do you accept?"  
  
Knuckles took a drink out of his coffee and nodded his head   
  
solemnly. A puzzled look crossed his face.  
  
"Who's going to help us?" Knuckles asked Shadow smiled.  
  
"Three very special people."  
  
*****  
  
Tails leaned back in his seat and yawned. He was almost done   
  
setting up the plane's autopilot, then he could go back and take a nap.   
  
He had been flying the plane for ten hours, trying to decide the plane's   
  
safest course. He flicked a switch, laid down the flight operations   
  
handbook, and unbuckled the straps that held him in. He got up and   
  
walked back into the main cabin. Amy and Rogue looked up at him.  
  
"I've set the autopilot to take us to a city on the northern   
  
continent. I wanted to get us as far as possible from the storm. The   
  
city is barely inside the Tornado's range, but we'll make it.  
  
Rouge handed Tails a bottle of water and he took it, eagerly.   
  
After drinking from it, he sat down in one of the seats.  
  
"What's the name of the city?" Amy asked, curiously.  
  
"Station Square." Tails replied, reclining the seat and stifling a   
  
yawn.  
  
"I'm gonna catch a few winks, is that alright?" Both of the girls   
  
nodded. Tails closed his eyes and was out almost like a light.  
  
He woke what felt like a eternity later. Amy and Rouge was shaking   
  
him and yelling at him.  
  
"I'm up!" He snapped, pulling the seat into it's normal position.   
  
He was going to say more, but he heard a buzzing that silenced him. It   
  
was the master alarm, sounding out of cockpit. He jumped up and ran   
  
forward, but he knew it was futile. Before he even knew what was wrong,   
  
the master alarm had told him enough. They were going down.  
  
*****  
  
Knuckles was outside, about to go with Shadow to the abandoned   
  
shopping centers inside the main city to find some clothing. He was   
  
already getting sick of wearing robes. Shadow also wanted some new   
  
attire. Knuckles had his own reason for going besides clothing. He needed   
  
a weapon. He could fight with his fists well when he needed to, but what   
  
he really wanted was a oak staff. Maybe he'd be able to find one, or at   
  
least a suitable substitute. He looked up to the clear sky and for a   
  
second, almost thought he saw something. He shrugged it off and called   
  
into the church.  
  
"Shadow, are you ready?"  
  
*****  
  
Tails couldn't believe his eyes. He also couldn't believe he had   
  
done such a stupid, idiotic thing. In his rush to take off from   
  
Knothole, program the flight instruments, and find a landing location,   
  
he had left the afterburners on. And they used the fuel faster then the   
  
regular engines. And now he was out of fuel. He looked at his radar and   
  
saw they were approaching the southern coast of the northern continent.   
  
Ten miles in was the Station Square airport. He did a quick slope   
  
calculation and came to the conclusion he had already known: there was   
  
no way he could make the airport, not without another five minutes of   
  
engine time. He deactivated the autopilot and began to bank the Tornado   
  
toward's the grassy plains to the west of the city.  
  
'Stupid! Your a veteran pilot, for Destiny's sake! How could you   
  
do suck a idiotic thing?' He asked himself as he lined the plane up with   
  
the coast.  
  
"If you had engine's you could make a vertical landing!" Tails   
  
hissed to himself as he shut down the computers, no longer needing them.   
  
He turned in his seat, screaming back into the cabin.  
  
"Brace for crash landing! We're going in hard!"  
  
*****  
  
Shadow walked outside and locked the church door. Knuckles jogged   
  
over to him and pointed in the sky, to a object veering away from the   
  
city.  
  
"What in the world is that?" Knuckles asked, curiosity in his   
  
voice. Shadow smiled.  
  
"Those are our friends. We had better go meet them. We can wait to   
  
shop until we have been properly acquainted." They both began to walk in   
  
the direction the plane was headed.  
  
*****  
  
Tails tightened the straps around him and watched the altimeter   
  
fall steadily. When it reached 100 feet, he pulled back on the yoke as   
  
hard as he could and dropped the landing gear.  
  
"We're landing!" Tails yelled. He watched with increasing   
  
nervousness as the needle descended to 50...40...30...20...10...  
  
Metal screamed in torture and the plane lurched forward and   
  
skidded across the grass. The plane tilted and for one terrifying moment   
  
he thought it was going to flip. But at the last moment the rest of the   
  
momentum bleed away as the landing gears dug into the muddy ground.   
  
Tails breathed in relief. He unbuckled the straps and made his way to   
  
the cabin to see if Amy and Rouge were alright.  
  
Amy coughed roughly and unbuckled her seatbelt. She stood   
  
uncertainly in the dark cabin and looked around.  
  
"Rouge? Tails?" Amy asked uncertainly. This was just too much for   
  
her. All her friends were dead and she was on another continent fleeing   
  
from a cloud of dust! Suddenly, she felt very tired. She sat down again   
  
and began to cry silently.  
  
"Amy?" Tails questioned the dark cabin when he entered. He pulled   
  
a portion of the wall aside and flicked a switch. The cabin was flooded   
  
with red emergency lighting. He saw the young hedgehog sitting in her   
  
seat, crying. He went over to her and hugged her.  
  
"I know you've been through a lot Ames..." Tails spoke softly. She   
  
looked at him with glistening eyes.  
  
"I'm just so sick of it, Tails.." Amy whispered. "I'm sick of war,   
  
sick of being alone, I'm sick of everyone dying. Most of all, I think   
  
I'm sick of false hope..." Tails shook his head.   
  
"I know Amy. I know. But we're almost at the end now. Just a   
  
little longer, then we can rest." Amy began to laugh. For some odd   
  
reason, Tails began to laugh with her.  
  
"Tails, where's Rouge?" Amy drew back and asked. A questioning   
  
look crossed his brow then he turned and began looking for the white   
  
bat. They found her, unconscious in her seat, a small box laying a few   
  
feet away. A small bump on her head was all that remained of her   
  
accident.  
  
"She'll be fine. Let's carry her outside. Fresh air will do her   
  
some good." Amy nodded in agreement. They picked up Rouge, opened the   
  
hatch, and took their first steps onto the northern continent.  
  
End of Part Two  
  
Part Three  
  
Shadow and Knuckles crosses the plains outside the city a hour   
  
later toward the wreckage of the Tornado. Outside the cargo plane, they   
  
watched three people setting camp. One was building a fire, unpacking   
  
things Knuckles assumed was food, and the other two were setting up a   
  
tent. The one cooking, a white bat Knuckles could now see, looked up and   
  
saw the two walking towards the Tornado. The bat pointed and said   
  
something to her fellows, who looked up in their direction.  
  
'How funny we must look in these robes.' Knuckles thought. They   
  
continued to walk towards the group until they were standing ten feet   
  
away. No one said anything, Knuckles and Shadow drew back their hoods.  
  
"Hello." Tails spoke shortly. He stood up and walked over to   
  
Shadow in the dying light of day.  
  
"It looks like you've had a...a little accident." Knuckles spoke,   
  
his lips curving upward in a small smile. "Are you all right?"  
  
Tails nodded. "The landing was a little rough, but we came   
  
through. Rouge got a little bump on the head but..."  
  
Knuckles looked up at the bat and recognized her immediately. He   
  
closed his eyes against the sudden recognition.  
  
*****  
  
"Give us your money punk!" The leader, Knuckles thought he was the   
  
leader, demanded, shoving Knuckles roughly against the brick wall at the   
  
end of the dark alley. Knuckles grinned.  
  
"Please..." Knuckles sighed. Did these punks realize who they were   
  
dealing with? The guarding of Angel Island had no time to deal with   
  
punks. Knuckles gave the idiot a swift uppercut, knocking him backwards.   
  
Before he realized what had happened, he heard a sharp crack as another   
  
punk stepped forward. Knuckles felt something wet on his shirt. He   
  
looked down and nearly passed out.  
  
'Ohnononono...' Knuckles thought as he became lightheaded. He slid   
  
down the wall and the gang stepped forward and began searching him for   
  
money, jewelry.  
  
'Can't they even wait until I'm dead?' Knuckles thought. He slid   
  
into blackness. The last thing he saw was the woman who had shot him.   
  
She a white bat, dark gray wings, and deep blue eyes.  
  
*****  
  
"It is you..." Knuckles spoke in wonder. Rouge looked at him and   
  
froze, terror in her eyes. He watched as she struggle with a past she   
  
had forgotten...  
  
'Or tried to forget on purpose...' Knuckles thought to himself as   
  
she slowly backed away from him.  
  
"No." Was all she said to him. "I watched you bleed to death."   
  
Tails and Amy turned to look at their comrade.  
  
"Rouge, do you know these men?" Amy asked innocently. Knuckles   
  
snorted.  
  
"I would hope she knows me. After all," Knuckles took a small step   
  
towards her. "She does have my blood on her hands."  
  
Rouge began to tremble out of fright. She was confronted with the   
  
impossible, and did what any rational person would do. She passed out   
  
cold.  
  
When she woke, she was inside the cargo plane alone, or so she   
  
thought. She drew in a sharp breath when Knuckles stepped out of the   
  
darkness toward her.  
  
"Please don't hurt me!" Was the first thing out of her lips. She   
  
mentally berated herself for it, she hated when she showed any weakness.   
  
Knuckles sat calmly next to her.  
  
"I'm not going to hurt you. I would, however, like to know exactly   
  
what possessed you to cut my time on this planet short." He turned   
  
sideways toward her. "Yes. You did kill me. I don't fully understand   
  
what has happened yet, but I do know I am alive now, and I know I am   
  
here on a mission. I also know I am going to have to work with you. The   
  
storm you are running from, it's spreading." She watched as he stood up   
  
and sighed.  
  
"If we can't stop it, it will consume everything on this planet.   
  
Shadow is outside telling the same to the others." Rouge shifted   
  
uneasily in her seat.  
  
"I am ready to let bygones be bygones, but first I think I deserve   
  
a reason." Knuckles stood and waited for an answer. He was startled to   
  
watch tears begin to stream down her face.  
  
*****  
  
Tails sat his head on his fist and chuckled. "So, what your   
  
telling me Shadow, is that you and Knuckles are here to save the world,   
  
and we're here to help." Shadow nodded and Tails began to laugh.  
  
"Well, I'm more then willing to help, Tails." Amy said, startled   
  
that the normally calm Tails was acting this way towards Shadow.  
  
Shadow smiled flatly. "You should be more then willing to help   
  
too, Tails. After all, all your plane needs is a refuel and she'll be   
  
good as new."  
  
Tails' head snapped towards Shadow and he stopped laughing. He   
  
locked eyes with the obsidian hedgehog. Shadow stood up and motioned for   
  
Tails to follow him. Tails complied readily.  
  
When they were out of hearing distance of the camp, Tails eyed   
  
Shadow suspiciously. "How did you know about our..fuel problem." Shadow   
  
smiled and pointed to the sky.  
  
"People who are brought back to life by Destiny tent to...hear   
  
things. Knuckles doesn't, since he's only been back a day, but before   
  
long, he will." Shadow placed a hand gingerly on Tails' shoulder.  
  
"It wasn't your fault you left the afterburners on. You are the   
  
person responsible for saving two other people. Minor screw-up's are   
  
acceptable." Tails smiled.  
  
"Thanks" Shadow nodded at him.  
  
"No problem." They walked back to the campfire.  
  
*****  
  
Rouge continued to sob and Knuckles began to feel sorry for the   
  
bat. She finally stopped to gasp air. "I..I..." She began to stutter   
  
between sobs and sharp breaths of air.  
  
"I didn't mean to hit you!" She finally gasped out, sobbing even   
  
worse. Knuckles looked confused, then it his him.  
  
"You were aiming for the thug because you were an undercover   
  
cop..." Knuckles spoke softly.  
  
She nodded hard, then calmed herself to explain. "After I killed   
  
you, I ran, leaving Station Square. I traveled to the Southern Continent   
  
where the war was, thinking that no one knew me." She laughed a little,   
  
which Knuckles saw as a good sign. "I was thinking maybe I could somehow   
  
redeem myself, atone for my sins..." Knuckles places a hand on her chin   
  
and lifted her face to make eye-contact. Rouge saw honesty and symphony   
  
in his eyes.  
  
"Help us, and you won't have to." Knuckles said simply. Rouge drew   
  
him into a tight hug, murmuring thank you over and over. He hugged her   
  
back.  
  
A few minutes later a composed Rouge and Knuckles walked from the   
  
plane and joined the others beside the fire.  
  
Knuckles nodded at Shadow, something unspoken passing between   
  
them.  
  
"We had better head back." Shadow said. "We'll come back in the   
  
morning and we can begin to plan then." Knuckles and Shadow stood and   
  
began to walk into the night when Tails stood and signaled the to stay.  
  
"We have extra food and extra sleeping bags. Just stay here and we   
  
can get to work in the morning." Shadow nodded, and he and Knuckles sat   
  
back down.  
  
"Well," Shadow said, turning to Knuckles. "It looks like we'll   
  
look for supplies tomorrow.  
  
*****  
  
In the morning, Rouge and Amy were cooking breakfast for all of   
  
them, Tails was making minor repairs to the plane, and Knuckles and   
  
Shadow were consulting a map of Station Square.  
  
They finally agreed on a route to take and joined the others for   
  
breakfast. Once breakfast was over, Shadow informed them of the plan.  
  
"You two," Shadow said, pointing to Rouge and Amy. "You will be in   
  
charge of heading to the city center. That's the shopping district. You   
  
will need to find weapons and nonperishable goods. Canned food, freeze   
  
dried fruit, that sort of thing."Turning to Tails, he pulled a key   
  
out of his pocket.  
  
"When they abandoned the city, everything was left where it was.   
  
This is the key to the militia supply depot on the northern edge of the   
  
city. There should be enough supplies to refit the Tornado, and a way to   
  
get them back here."  
  
"Knuckles, you'll go to the clothing store across from my   
  
apartment and pick up items for you and me. Just guess my size. And   
  
finally, I'll go fine a way to transport the stuff Amy, Rouge and   
  
Knuckles will find. Is that ok?" Shadow asked, tucking the map away.  
  
"Sounds fine to me." Rouge said. Everyone nodded in agreement.  
  
"Ok." Shadow said. "Let's go."  
  
*****  
  
Tails walked up to the black door hidden at the back of an   
  
alleyway. He pulled the key from his pocket and opened the locks.   
  
Pushing the door open, he found a small room filled with dust. Venturing   
  
inside, all he found was a dead plant and a cheep plastic chair. He   
  
scoffed as he picked up the plant off of the chair.  
  
"Armory? Yeah right!" Tails threw the plant against the back wall   
  
and was going to leave until he realized the plant went through the   
  
wall. Tails walked up to the hole he made and looked inside. He smelled   
  
oil and dust at first, but couldn't see anything until he turned on his   
  
flashlight. Rows and rows of barrels of what looked like jet fuel, and   
  
racks of parts. In the corner was a cargo truck with a trailer attached   
  
to it. On the other side of the warehouse were a set of garage doors and   
  
a forklift.  
  
"Well," Tails said to himself as he climbed through the hole.   
  
"Might as well get started. Looks like I've got a lot of searching to   
  
do."  
  
*****  
  
Amy looked in awe at the selection of arrows laid out in front of   
  
her. She had already salvaged a bow gun to replace her old one.  
  
"I would of never seen anything like this..." Amy whispered to   
  
herself as she loaded an silver-tipped arrow into the gun. She made it   
  
click home. She put it away, picked up two quivers of arrows for   
  
herself, and selected weapons for the rest of the group.  
  
*****  
  
Rouge walked up and down the abandoned supermarket pulling canned   
  
goods and boxes of food off of the shelf into the cart. She had already   
  
loaded up on bottled water, the cart waiting at the store's entrance.   
  
She stopped pulling down boxes and looked behind her.  
  
"That's the second time I've thought someone was watching me...as   
  
soon as I finish up this cart I'm heading out of here. This'll be   
  
plenty."  
  
She turned around and resumed selecting items from the shelf.  
  
*****  
  
Knuckles was now dressed in a white cotton shirt, khaki pants and   
  
a black trenchcoat. Across his back hung a oak staff he had found in an   
  
adjacent store.  
  
'I know Rouge's getting weapons, but I just couldn't resist. It's   
  
in perfect condition for cripes sake!' Knuckles picked up the sacks   
  
containing new attire. He was walking toward the glass exit of the store   
  
when he suddenly picked up a very peculiar feeling, something that he   
  
shouldn't of had in an abandoned city.  
  
He had the feeling he was being watched.  
  
Slowly, he turned around and saw something skitter across the   
  
floor and into the men's clothing racks. Knuckles walked out of the   
  
department store quickly soundly shutting the door behind him.  
  
"Shadow, hurry up." Knuckles whispered to himself.  
  
Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.  
  
*****  
  
Shadow was speeding down the deserted boulevard in a hotwired   
  
white cargo van. He had already picked up Amy and was now speeding   
  
toward where Rouge was. He pulled in front of the building to find Rouge   
  
waiting with two shopping carts. Amy and Shadow jumped out and started   
  
loading the stuff. Halfway through the second cart, Shadow spoke.  
  
"How did it go?"  
  
Rouge shrugged. "I just got this weird feeling like I was being   
  
watched."  
  
Shadow creased his brow. "Watched?" He asked.  
  
"Yeah, but when ever I turned around, I didn't find anything."   
  
Shadow lifted the last cart into the van and closed the doors. Amy and   
  
Rouge got in, but he stayed behind for a moment. Something was troubling   
  
him.  
  
"I'm forgetting something important..." Shadow thought, the crease   
  
in his brow deepening. He meditated a moment longer when the answer   
  
suddenly came to the front of his mind with the force of a gunshot.  
  
"Oh Destiny, Directive 4!" Shadow whispered to himself. If that's   
  
true...  
  
Shadow ran and jumped into the driver's compartment. He started   
  
the van and stomped on the gas, sending the van flying forward. Amy and   
  
Rouge looked at him in amazement.  
  
"What are you doing?" Rouge asked. The van was going 90.  
  
"We have to get the Knuckles and get out of the city! I just hope   
  
Tails is done with his refit!"  
  
Amy shook her head in confusion. "Why?"  
  
Shadow hit the dashboard. "Directive 4. I for got about Directive   
  
4!"  
  
*****  
  
Tails pulled the cargo truck along the Tornado. He had found the   
  
fuel, and he was happy because the truck had a refueling system. He   
  
quickly hooked the truck up to the Tornado and began pumping fuel.  
  
"Thirty minutes." Tails guessed looking at the gauges. He still   
  
had time to repair the damaged landing gear. He hauled the torch under   
  
the plane and began his work.  
  
*****  
  
Knuckles reacted purely out of instinct. As soon as he saw the   
  
robot plowing forward through the store, heading his way, he launched   
  
himself into the air. Beneath him, he heard the glass shatter as the   
  
robot broke through into the spot Knuckles had been only a second   
  
before. Knuckles kicked himself off of the building into a midair spin.   
  
Halfway to the ground he pulled his oak staff. He landed on his feet and   
  
was immediately attacked by the robot. He parried blow after blow from   
  
the mechanical tendrils. he didn't even remember moving, he just went   
  
with it, expertly blocking blow after blow. Finally, he started forcing   
  
the robot back against the wall. He blocked one last blow, then kicked   
  
the robot hard in the head. It flew into the wall, face first, smashing   
  
it's CPU. It went dead instantly. Knuckles was about to put his staff   
  
away when he looked back inside the store. Ten more robots were lined   
  
up, ready to attack.  
  
"Uh oh."  
  
*****  
  
"What's Directive 4?" Rouge nearly screeched. Shadow had just took   
  
the van around a turn going 60, almost tipping it.  
  
"Before he died, Robotnik had robot's deployed on all continents.   
  
Directive 4 is a rule set into each robot's CPU, it's brain, as it's   
  
made. Simply put, if Robotnik ever dies, the robot kills everything in   
  
sight." Shadow took another corner, then continued. "Right now, that's   
  
us and..."  
  
"Knuckles!" Amy yelled. Shadow looked up ahead and saw Knuckles in   
  
the street. The first word that popped into his mind were warzone.  
  
*****  
  
Knuckles continued to parry, duck, and block each and every blow   
  
the 10 robots sent his way, but he was beginning to tire. In the 2   
  
minutes he had been fighting the 10, he had only dispatched 2.  
  
"I'm not going to make it.." Knuckles realized. His brain   
  
instantly responded to that statement.  
  
"What, are you kidding? We're getting out of here. So move it!"  
  
Knuckles decided to save the mental battle for later and save his   
  
skin now. He jumped over a blade on of the bots sent his way. It sliced   
  
through a bot behind him, disabling it. He brought his staff down on a   
  
bots head, shutting it down. It also cracked his staff.  
  
"Oh no!" Knuckles thought then he felt himself lifted off the   
  
ground and pulled into a vehicle. Rouge set him down as they sped away.   
  
Knuckles sat back and began to pant. He glanced angrily at Shadow.  
  
"You never said anything about robots bent on killing me. I think   
  
I would have remembered something like that."  
  
Shadow took an exit out of the city and turned off of the road   
  
into the grasslands. The plane was about a mile away. Shadow slowed   
  
down.  
  
"I didn't know they had been activated. I'm sorry, but at least   
  
your safe."  
  
"Yeah? Well, I'm without a weapon again and-"  
  
"No. Amy picked you up a Steel Staff. So your fine on weapons.   
  
What about clothing?"  
  
Knuckles pulled a bag off of his back. "I got one pair of   
  
clothes in here for you, and the stuff I'm wearing, but I lost the rest   
  
of the stuff."  
  
"That's fin-" Shadow broke off when he checked his rear view   
  
mirrors. Knuckles felt the van pick up speed. He got up on his knees and   
  
looked out the back window. Hundreds of robots were marching quickly out   
  
of the city, heading toward them.  
  
*****  
  
Tails opened the cargo door on the Tornado as he saw the van   
  
headed toward him. He had just finished disconnecting the fuel truck and   
  
was about to start the engine. The van rushed into the planes hold and   
  
Shadow leaped out of the truck.  
  
"Get us off the ground, I'll take care of the door!" Tails was   
  
about to ask why when he looked out of the door and saw the army. He   
  
turned and charged through the plane towards the cockpit. Within   
  
seconds, the group heard the engines roar to life as the door shut. When   
  
the door shut and locked, all they could hear was a dull hum.  
  
*****  
  
Tails rushed through the startup checklist, skipping procedures   
  
that could wait until they were up. He turned the engines over to   
  
vertical takeoff and throttled up. The Tornado was slowly lifting off.   
  
He pulled the landing gears up and double checked everything was clear   
  
of the plane.  
  
"Go, for Destiny's sake, go!" Rogue screamed from the back of the   
  
plane. Tails looked into the mirrors and saw the robots were almost on   
  
top of them.  
  
"See ya." Tails chuckled to himself as he pushed the throttle   
  
forward to 50%. After they were up, the engines switched over to regular   
  
flight mode. Tails expertly banked the Tornado until they were heading   
  
south, over the ocean. Behind them, the robots fired fruitlessly at the   
  
plane. The Tornado was heading back into the storm.  
  
End of Part Three  
  
Part Four  
  
In the wreckage of Robotropolis, something was stirring. The winds   
  
of the storm had long ago left the city as the storm moved outward, but   
  
the storm had crippled the city none the less. Robotnik's throne city,   
  
which he himself designed, was now in ruins. Building were toppled by   
  
the voracious wind and eroded to shapeless forms by the sand. Through   
  
all this destruction, a metallic hand shot up out of the wreckage.   
  
Slowly, shoving the stripped metal away from her, Bunnie sat up and   
  
began to cough heavily. The sand had been everywhere, and she had   
  
breathed some in, although she had kept as far under the storm as   
  
possible. She reached into the manhole she had just climbed out of and   
  
hauled a knapsack out. She took out a canteen of water and drank,   
  
careful not to waste a single drop.  
  
'Hard to tell when I'll be able to find an unpolluted supply   
  
next..' She thought to herself as she put the canteen away. She looked   
  
at the desolation around her. Looking in the direction the great forest   
  
had been was an even big shock to her then the ruins already surrounding   
  
her. The forest was completely gone. As far as she could tell, there was   
  
nothing but dirt where the majestic forest had once been. The storm had   
  
sucked everything up and had hauled it away. She closed her eyes and   
  
felt tears welling up. They fell silently as she thought of her fallen   
  
comrades.  
  
She sighed heavily, slinging the backpack over her shoulder. No   
  
time to worry about that, she thought.   
  
'I need to see if there's anything I can find out about this   
  
storm.' She turned and headed to where she guessed Robotnik's control   
  
room had once been.  
  
*****  
  
Locking their destination into the computer, Tails walked back to   
  
join the others in the main cabin. They were about 30 minutes out from   
  
Station Square.  
  
They were heading back to Robotropolis.  
  
They were going to try and stop the storm.  
  
If it could be stopped.  
  
"Well, according to what I know at this point, what we need to   
  
stop the storm we will find in the ruins of Robotropolis." Shadow took a   
  
drink of water and shook his head. "Unfortunately, that's all I know."  
  
Knuckles nodded. "Robotropolis is where the storm started, so it   
  
makes sense that's where it will end."  
  
Nothing more was said, as Tails entered and sat down with them.   
  
"Well, the course is plotted and I estimate that we'll hit the storm   
  
sometime tomorrow, around 9 AM."  
  
"Well, then there's no reason for us to still be awake. We've had   
  
a long day, let's get some sleep." Rouge said, yawning. They all agreed   
  
and went to different chairs around the cabin. It was the only place to   
  
sleep. As Knuckles was reclining, he tried to shake off an uneasy   
  
feeling he had gotten during the day. It was the same feeling he had   
  
gotten in the store earlier. He was drifting to sleep when it hit him.   
  
The feeling meant the same thing to him as it had in the department   
  
store.  
  
Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. He just didn't know   
  
what.  
  
*****  
  
Knuckles drifted on the edge of sleep for a few seconds before   
  
realizing what had woken him up.  
  
Something cold and metallic was pressing into the side of his   
  
head. Reacting out of fear, he shoved himself forward as his attacker   
  
pulled the trigger. He heard the bow plow into the seat behind him and   
  
the man cursed softly. Knuckles sent a punch toward his attacker, but it   
  
was blocked easily. The attacker punched Knuckles hard and sent him   
  
flying across the cabin into the right side. Before Knuckles had time to   
  
stand again and prepare for another attack, Tails flipped on the lights   
  
to the main cabin and shot a robot with his handgun. Sparks flew from   
  
the robot's chest and he dropped to the floor, shaking violently.  
  
Knuckles looked on in shock. His head was pounding.  
  
Tails holstered his gun and walked across the cabin. Amy was   
  
unbuckling herself and looking at Tails.  
  
"What's going on Tails? Where's Shadow?" Amy asked, terrified.  
  
Rouge came into the room from the back of the plane and crossed   
  
over to Knuckles, who was nursing some very tender ribs.  
  
"He's in the cargo hold." Amy started back.   
  
"No!" Rouge shouted. "Don't go back there." Her head drooped a   
  
bit. "It's...you don't want to see it."   
  
She helped Knuckles up and went with him to a seat. She gave him   
  
an ice pack and some bandages from the plane's first aid kit.  
  
"Why didn't it attack sooner?" Knuckles asked himself as Rouge   
  
laid him down on an emergency stretcher in the back.  
  
"We didn't even realize it was on board. No one did. Tails didn't   
  
kill the CPU, he just shot the motor control unit. We'll have answers   
  
soon." Before she left, Knuckles grabbed her arm.  
  
"How did Tails know where to shoot?" Knuckles asked. She shuffled   
  
her feet and smiled sheepishly.  
  
"When you live less then 10 miles from someone bent on taking over   
  
the world, you learn everything you can about them."  
  
*****  
  
ACCESS CORE CONTROL  
  
access denied  
  
ACCESS CENTRAL CONTROL  
  
access denied  
  
ACCESS MAIN MEMORY LINKUP  
  
access denied ; sysop access required  
  
Tails frowned at the screen. After five hours of trying to get   
  
information out of what was left of the bot, he just knew one thing for   
  
sure.  
  
Even though the city of Robotropolis was in ruins, the city's   
  
computer network was very much alive.  
  
"It's something I should of realized as soon as those robots   
  
attacked us in Station Square. Robotnik's robots can't move without an   
  
uplink to the main computer. During the quake and the days following the   
  
quake, that was destroyed. But apparently, somewhere in Robotropolis, a   
  
new computer has taken over." Tails told the others. "I'm willing to bet   
  
that's where we'll find how to stop the sand storm."  
  
Knuckles snapped his fingers. "If it's not the place where the   
  
storm is controlled." When the others gave looks of doubts at him, he   
  
continued. "Yeah sure, a controlled sand storm sounds crazy to you. I'll   
  
bet you someone said that very same thing about Robotisization 20 years   
  
ago. And I think we know that's very real." Rouge nodded.  
  
"If we can get into the city and find the computer, then it should   
  
be a snap to stop this thing, right?"  
  
Amy nodded. "Hopefully."  
  
*****  
  
Bunnie tripped over a metal cover slightly loose from the ground.   
  
She had been searching for 3 hours, trying to find anything that could   
  
help her out.  
  
"What the-" She started to say, then realized something odd.   
  
Although the temperature couldn't of been more the 75, the air she felt   
  
coming out of the slight opening was at least a full 10 degrees cooler.   
  
She realized what this had to mean. The other side of the panel was air   
  
conditioned. Air conditioning meant power. She looked around quickly and   
  
found a piece of metal bar. It took her 15 minutes, but eventually she   
  
pried the lid open. There was a ladder leading down into darkness. She   
  
looked at her sack of few supplies and decided to at least go down.  
  
"If I don't find anything, I can always come back up." Bunnie said   
  
to herself as she grabbed the ladder. She started her decent into   
  
darkness.  
  
*****  
  
ACCESS MEMORY BACKUP  
  
access denied  
  
ACCESS RANDOM MEMORY GROUP  
  
access denied  
  
Frustrated, Tails was about to give up. He sat back and rubbed at   
  
his eyes. "There's just one more thing I can try, I guess." He said   
  
quietly. He leaned forward and began to type.  
  
ACCESS COMMUNICATION MODEM  
  
access granted: _  
  
Tails stared at the blinking cursor. He couldn't believe his eyes.   
  
He had access to Robotropolis' entire remaining computer system. He   
  
started by accessing the camera system. To his surprise, one was still   
  
active. He brought it up onto his screen.  
  
Bunnie was on the monitor.  
  
*****  
  
Bunnie was in a small underground room. It was an empty room,   
  
except for a computer console in the middle that sat on a metal desk.   
  
The monitor took up an entire wall of the room in front of the console.   
  
She was about to go over and check the computer out when she heard the   
  
camera whir to life. She jumped when someone spoke to her a few moments   
  
later.  
  
"Bunnie! Your alive?" Tails' voice echoed through the little room.   
  
She turned and looked at the camera.  
  
"Tails? Can you hear me?" Bunnie asked eagerly.  
  
"Yep! Just stay put, we're only six hours out from the city now, I   
  
just activated the afterburners."  
  
"Oh thank Destiny! Tails, everything around here is   
  
destroyed...wait...did you say we?"  
  
"Yes. Rouge, Amy, and a person named Knuckles is with me. Don't   
  
worry about that now though. What we need to worry about is the storm   
  
that destroyed Robotropolis and Knothole. We were the only ones to   
  
escape. Somehow the storm is being controlled by Robotropolis'   
  
computers. We have to find it and shut it down."  
  
Tails waited a few moments, waiting for Bunnie to reply. Instead   
  
she stepped to the side, reveling the monitor she had been standing in   
  
front of. It showed a map of the globe. Almost half of it was covered by   
  
the storm. In the right corner of the screen 'Project Phoenix' flashed   
  
in red. Tails was silenced instantly.  
  
"Tails...is this what you were looking for?" Bunnie whispered in   
  
awe.  
  
Tails closed his eyes, smiling, thinking that it was all almost   
  
over.  
  
"Yes, Bunnie. Sit down and I'll guide you through how to shut it   
  
down.  
  
*****  
  
Bunnie drew back the chair and sat uneasily at the terminal.  
  
"Ok, Bunnie. Just hit the function 8 key and it should bring up a   
  
system menu, unless Robotnik changed anything.  
  
Apparently he hadn't, because a menu popped up and one of the   
  
choices was 'System Shutdown'.  
  
"Ok, now select System Shutdown and press enter." Tails spoke   
  
easily. 'After this, all we have to do is pick up Bunnie and leave. I'm   
  
sure we'll-'  
  
Tails thoughts were interrupted by a blaring alarm. Looking at the   
  
screen, he saw that Bunnie now was bound to the chair by steel clamps.   
  
On the screen, a box flashed 'Enter Password'. A timer was counting down   
  
from thirty.  
  
"Tails!" Bunnie yelped. "What's going on? Get me outta here!"  
  
Tails brought up a new window on his computer and tried to   
  
override the security program. He pounded keys frantically as the   
  
computer rejected his efforts over and over.  
  
Bunnie struggled against her restraints and found it was useless.   
  
They held her fast. She gave up and watched the screen as the timer   
  
reached zero.  
  
*****  
  
All the alarms went silent to Bunnie as a very familiar glass   
  
cylinder slid over the chair she was still restrained in. She started to   
  
scream.  
  
"Tails! Please help me! Do something!" Bunnie started fighting   
  
against the restraints again, trying desperately to escape. She knew it   
  
was impossible.  
  
A dirty burnt odor hung in the air as the Robotisizer charged.   
  
It's energy crackled inside the chamber, mocking her. He heard a whine   
  
as the system reached full capacity. Activating, it consumed her in a   
  
blazing white fire. She screamed in agony, but never heard herself. Her   
  
mind was already lost.  
  
Tails stared on his amazement. He was too shocked for a reaction.   
  
He just sitting there, thinking. Not about anything in particular,   
  
because the brutal truth in his mind was too much for the young fox to   
  
handle.  
  
'You killed her. You told her to go over to the computer and start   
  
pushing buttons, and you killed her.'  
  
'That's not true,' Another part of his mind told him. 'She did it   
  
of her own free will, and she didn't just start pushing buttons.'  
  
'SHUT UP!' Tails roared at himself. He put his head into his hands   
  
and began to cry silently, a gasp of air being heard every now and then.  
  
*****  
  
Across the barren landscape of Robotropolis, the sentinels were   
  
coming to life.  
  
It wasn't something that had happened by accident. Bunnie's   
  
robotisization had triggered many alarms. The first was that the   
  
computer that controlled Project Phoenix, the sand storm, was now very   
  
carefully sealed off. The now robotisized Bunnie quietly stood guard   
  
inside the room. But the sentinels, they were something else entirely.   
  
They were much more dangerous. Thousands of them poured across the   
  
Robotropolis landscape, ready to protect the last stable thing they   
  
knew, the computer that controlled them. The had been Robotnik's last   
  
project before the earthquake, and they were possibly, aside from the   
  
Phoenix, Robotnik's greatest achievement.  
  
They were workerbots. Robotisized Mobians.  
  
But they were much more then that. Their arms had been striped off   
  
and replaced with plasma blasters. Their legs had jet boosters attached   
  
for limited flight. Their CPU had been upgraded, and they had a very   
  
powerful AI program, modeled after Dr. Robotnik. They were as cruel and   
  
as evil as the doctor at his best.  
  
The sentinels were deployed. And they were ready to fight and be   
  
destroyed.  
  
And the storm raged on, half of Mobius now consumed.  
  
End of Part Four  
  
Part Five  
  
Amy looked nervously out of a side window of the Tornado. Now only   
  
a short time away from Robotropolis, she had decided to look out and see   
  
the storm for the first time. The sand was swirling through the air   
  
below, violently decimating anything it came in contact with. Tails had   
  
told her that there would be a break in the storm over Robotropolis   
  
because of the way wind flowed. She had her doubts.  
  
'How can he know? This isn't like anything anyone has ever seen   
  
before...I'm going to go talk to him about this.' Amy shut the blind on   
  
her window and stood up. She made her way forward.  
  
When she walked in, Tails still had his head buried in his hands,   
  
but he had stopped crying. She walked over to him and kneeled next to   
  
him. She placed a hand on his shoulder but he shook it away.  
  
"Leave me alone..." Tails said in a low voice, full of misery.  
  
"Tails...what's wrong?" Amy asked quietly. 'Oh Destiny.' She   
  
thought at first. 'There's no break in the storm.' But he pointed at a   
  
screen shortly, and when Amy looked at the monitor, she gasped. Bunnie   
  
stood in the middle of a room, not moving at all. She was robotizised.  
  
"Tails! What happened to her?" Amy asked, shocked. He raised his   
  
head slowly.  
  
"I-I told her to shut the computer down...and ...it triggered an   
  
alarm...I didn't mean for this to happen!" Tails was crying again. "It's   
  
not like I pushed the button myself, I didn't want her to die!" Tails   
  
was sobbing by this time. Amy laid a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Of course you didn't kill her Tails! It was that stupid man. The   
  
same man that killed our friends. The same man we've been fighting all   
  
these years. Robotnik, even in his death. Tails, I know it hurts, but   
  
we've got to press on. We have to see this through to the very end, even   
  
if we don't succeed."  
  
Tails looked disgusted. "Why? Why do we? What did we do? What's to   
  
keep me from just quitting right here and now?" Amy looked unsure of   
  
herself.  
  
"Because we need you Tails..." She looked up and looked him right   
  
in the eyes. "...Because I need you. I need you to see this through with   
  
me because...because I love you. Don't give up on me." Her eyes sparkled   
  
with unshed tears. She shut her eyes and put her head down. A moment   
  
later she felt Tails kiss her lightly on the forehead and embrace her in   
  
a tight hug.  
  
"I won't Amy." He whispered to her. "I'll see this through to the   
  
very end. I'll see it through for you."  
  
*****  
  
Knuckles fidgeted nervously in the cargo hold where him and Rouge   
  
were preparing the weapons. She was cleaning Tails' gun and he was   
  
checking Amy's bowgun. Neither of them touched Shadow's things, stacked   
  
neatly in the corner.  
  
'Come on, Knuck. Just say something...' Knuckles thought to   
  
himself as he placed Amy's bow back into it's case. He took a deep   
  
breath and turned to Rouge.  
  
"Rouge..." She turned to him. "...If we get out of this alive...a   
  
prospect that seems kinda doubtful right now..." She nodded gently.   
  
Knuckles continued. "...would you like to have dinner with me?" Rouge   
  
dropped Tails' guncase back onto the table. She stood there in shock not   
  
sure what to say.  
  
Knuckles shifted on his feet nervously. He was about to tell her   
  
to forget it and rush off when she responded.  
  
"I'd love to."  
  
Knuckles started to speak but was interrupted when the intercom   
  
clicked on. "Knuckles," Tails said. "Come to the cockpit. You should see   
  
this." Knuckles turned and rushed out the door, leaving Rouge to pack.  
  
When he got to the cockpit, Tails was ready to shut off the auto   
  
pilot. He turned when he came in and pointed at the monitor on the   
  
control panel.  
  
"I'm picking up something from Robotropolis. This stupid storm is   
  
interfering with the scanner, but I do know it's an electronic signal   
  
of some kind." Tails paused and looked glumly at Knuckles. "...A big   
  
signal."  
  
"But I thought the city was destroyed!" Knuckles asked confused.  
  
Tails leaned back in his seat and sighed. He began to speak. "When   
  
I was 12 I was taken into my first real mission into the city. When we   
  
were there, I was nearly killed when I almost walked down an alley. It   
  
was booby-trapped, and the only reason I'm here is because Sonic caught   
  
me in time and checked the alley. According to the scanner, a brick of   
  
C4 was waiting for me." Tails looked back at Knuckles. "That taught me   
  
one thing; there is a lot of nasty stuff in that city, most we don't   
  
know about." Knuckles nodded, following Tails' thinking.  
  
"So why can't a hidden army be one of them, right?" Knuckles   
  
asked. Tails nodded.  
  
"That's what I think it is." Tails shrugged. "Oh well, we'll know   
  
in 10 minutes. We start landing then."  
  
*****  
  
Rouge looked over the assembled boxes carefully. She had just   
  
finished loading up their equipment and was about to take it up to them.   
  
She picked up two cases and sat them down again after a moment. She   
  
walked over to a corner and found something she had seen before. A case   
  
of Dynamite.  
  
A few minutes later, Rouge carried all the equipment forward for   
  
every one to equip themselves. The case of Dynamite was open. Half of   
  
it's contents was now missing.  
  
*****  
  
The crew was now assembled in the forward cabin, ready to meat   
  
their fate with whatever courage they could muster. Tails was the only   
  
one missing, setting up the planes navigation system to land on auto.   
  
Knuckles stood nervously, looking out the window as the storm began to   
  
lighten just under the plane. Tails walked into the cabin.  
  
"I set the computer to hover the plane just above the surface,   
  
until we get out. Then it'll go back up until I signal it to come back   
  
down to pick us up." Everyone nodded silently. They all stood there   
  
nervously, until Knuckles cleared his throat.  
  
"Look, um..." He began nervously. "I really don't know much about   
  
this stuff, but I thought we could pray before we go down there."" He   
  
looked up at the rest of them. "I think it's what Shadow would have   
  
wanted."  
  
Without a word, they all began to take hands. Knuckles bowed his   
  
head and closed his eyes.  
  
"Destiny, today we embark on a journey into darkness in your name,   
  
to stop an evil which has consumed our world for many years. In this   
  
war, people have been injured. have died, and have been captured, but   
  
their faith in you has never wavered." The plane jolted sightly as   
  
their decent started.  
  
"If we should win today, if we stop the evil in it's path, we will   
  
learn from our victories, which are great, and our errors, which are just   
  
as great, and we never again will let anyone or anything rise out of the   
  
darkness and enslave our planet." Turbulence shoo the plane some more,   
  
rocking them on their feet.  
  
"Destiny, we will die for our cause, we will kill for our cause,   
  
and we refuse to be defeated. May we succeed on our sacred mission. In   
  
your name, may we win." Knuckles disengaged his hands from Amy and   
  
Rouge's hands. He sighed heavily and sat down in his seat.  
  
"Well," Tails began. "Now we wai-" A huge jolt shook the Tornado   
  
heavily and the alarm system came on.  
  
"Warning," the nasal voice of the computer announced over the drone   
  
of alarms. "Surface-to-Air fire detected. Automatic shielding activated.   
  
Evasive measures activated."  
  
Tails quickly checked his sidearm and yelled above the alarm.   
  
"Parachutes, quick! The shields won't hold for long!" Tails ran back to   
  
the rear of the plane, the others following him rapidly. He yanked a   
  
parachute off of the wall and began to put it on. As the others began to   
  
follow suit, another jolt hit the plane.  
  
"Warning, shielding now at 50% power. Imminent force field   
  
collapse."  
  
*****  
  
Above the computer compartment, the laser turrets were firing at   
  
full speed, but the storm was interfering with their lock-on. Inside   
  
the computer room, Bunnie Rabbot stood at attention. Her display flashed   
  
a single, simple message: PRIORITY ONE: PROTECT PHOENIX MAINFRAME  
  
The laser gun on her arm rotated barrels, increasing the laser   
  
power. She was ready for the intruders. Nothing will interrupt her   
  
master's plan. Nothing.  
  
*****  
  
Tails opened the rear cargo door as another blast hit the Tornado.   
  
They all jumped from the plane into the open air behind the plane. They   
  
were way past the outer edge of the storm and could see the city they   
  
were diving toward. The city itself was in ruins, as far as they could   
  
see. A sea of robotic soldiers stood ready as the laser turrets took out   
  
the Tornado. It blew apart in a ball of flame, wreckage flying   
  
everywhere. They all opened their chutes.  
  
*****  
  
Tails, upon hitting the ground, pulled out a machine gun Rouge had   
  
found and started shooting robots with it. Wave after wave came toward   
  
him, and he soon found himself running out of ammo for the gun. The   
  
robots never slowed down, just walked over their fallen counterparts. He   
  
discarded the empty machine pistol and pulled his handguns, placing   
  
shots into the heads of the soldiers. Soon, he was out of ammo for those   
  
too. He started punching the robots, realizing he was fighting a futile   
  
battle.  
  
'Well, at least I'll go out swinging.' Tails thought to himself as   
  
he ducked a punch from a robot and quickly came back up with a right   
  
hook.  
  
*****  
  
Knuckle disappeared. The robots were ready to converge on his   
  
position, but as soon as he his the ground, it was like he just melted   
  
away. The soldiers stood there puzzled. His gray parachute lay flat on   
  
the ground. Suddenly, he burst out of the ground and brought a shotgun   
  
up to his hip.  
  
"Dig it, man." Knuckles said to a robot in front of him as he blew   
  
it's head off with a blast from the gun. He quickly emptied the gun,   
  
switching to the staff.  
  
"I hope the others are doing ok." Knuckles thought, knocking off a   
  
bots head with a sharp blow to the neck.  
  
*****  
  
Amy was running out of ammo. Her arrow quiver was now empty, and   
  
her last clip had five shots left. She quickly used those and started   
  
thinking quickly. She had only one idea to survive, and she didn't know   
  
if it would work.  
  
"I hope Sonic knew what he was talking about." Amy murmured to   
  
herself as she jumped into the air and began to spin sideways, pointing   
  
her shoes downward. Hitting the ground, she burrowed down beyond the   
  
robots reach.  
  
"Sorry guys. I'm out of the fight." Amy sighed, trying to get   
  
comfortable in her hideout.  
  
*****  
  
Rouge pushed the button on the EMP device she had brought and all   
  
the robots in a 10 foot radius of her dropped. Robots continued to pile   
  
up as they tried to walk toward their newly acquired target. She had seen   
  
the gleaming cover to the computer core from the air and turned to land   
  
near it. She tried to pull the cover open, but it was sealed tight. She   
  
pulled out a small cutting torch and cut a hole in the sheet of steel.   
  
She grabbed her bag and jumped into the hole.  
  
Landing gracefully, Rouge saw the computer instantly. She tossed   
  
her bag against the machine and turned toward the exit. She came face to   
  
face with the robotisized Bunnie. She was sent sailing across the room   
  
by a uppercut from the solid metal fist.  
  
"Going somewhere?" Bunnie asked in a metallic voice, dripping with   
  
contempt. On the main monitor, a small window opened, reporting Mind   
  
Control, 5% complete.  
  
"You all believe in Destiny." Bunnie spoke softly, walking over to   
  
the stunned Rouge. She was dragged roughly off of the floor by the back   
  
of her neck. Yelping in pain, Rouge was brought to Bunnie's face.  
  
"Robotnik is the only GOD! Before you leave here, you will be   
  
touched, cleansed of the flesh, the temptation, by his holy device, as I   
  
was." Bunnie dropped Rouge back to the floor and sharply kicked her in   
  
the ribs. "DO YOU SEE!?" Bunnie shouted at Rouge.  
  
Gasping slowly, she thought of Knuckles, and what the future may   
  
have held.  
  
'I'm sorry Knuckles.' Rouge silently thought to herself as she   
  
pushed herself up and pulled a small remote out of her pocket.  
  
"Yes," Rouge said strongly, pushing the button before Bunnie could   
  
react. "I see."  
  
*****  
  
Knuckles was thrown off of his feet by the shockwave from the   
  
blast. When he got back up, all the robots were offline. In the   
  
distance, the storm began to break up. He silently rejoiced. They had   
  
won. The planet was safe.  
  
"But where did the explosion come from?" Behind him, Tails and Amy   
  
were recovering from the blast and the battle. He didn't see them. He   
  
didn't have to. Amy and Tails heard the echidna scream bloody murder and   
  
tumble to the ground. Destiny had finally spoken to him.  
  
End of Part 5  
  
Epilogue  
  
Journal Entry: April 16, 4371  
  
It's been twenty years since that last battle, and my tale is   
  
finally told. After that, history on Mobius is short and sweet. The   
  
survivors of the storm, both human and mobian, banded together and left   
  
the planet on a giant ship, the Mountain Star, built in orbit. They hope   
  
that their descendants reach a planet in a few hundred years without the   
  
problems we have now. Since the storm, the weather has gotten worse and   
  
worse. The surface gets colder and colder as the winds keep the sand   
  
from fully settling. The sand is blocking the sun almost completely now.   
  
I am writing this by candlelight in my house in a small mining town I   
  
took over after everyone left. Well, almost everyone.  
  
Tails and Amy took my place on Angel Island. Up their, above the   
  
clouds, is the last stable environment on Mobius. They have a family now,   
  
two children. One looks a little like Sonic, except he has two tails. I   
  
rarely visit, seeing the family is still painful for me. I'm not sure   
  
what kept them behind, but I know what kept me here. Rouge.  
  
Even after twenty years, the pain is still fresh. After destiny   
  
delivered the news to me in one solid blow, she had never spoken to me   
  
again. Perhaps she went with the ship, to watch her children. Or maybe   
  
she has her own kind of guilt to carry.  
  
Either way, I wrote this for Rouge. I'm leaving this on her grave   
  
tomorrow with some flowers I tend to when I'm not reading. I guess I   
  
needed a hobby of somekind.  
  
I haven't had much experience with the master emerald or the chaos   
  
emeralds in over twenty years, but I'm going after them now. Yesterday I   
  
read in a ancient text about their ability to warp time.  
  
Maybe I'm crazy, I'm hardly the one to make that assessment. But   
  
if there's even a small chance to go back, to somehow save her and still   
  
complete the mission, I'll try it. Any way it turns out, I'm sure I'll   
  
find somewhere to go home and someone to go home to.  
  
Even if it is only in my mind.  
  
END 


	2. Redemption

The Fallen

Chapter 2/3

Redemption

Brian Bloomfield

      Knuckles breathed deeply, smelling the spicy bar soap still on him after his shower. His bag sat on the table in front of him, containing a mini-tent, canteen, map, and other items of the similar type. He was almost ready to begin his journey. There was just one last thing to do before he sat out. He opened the cracked leather-bound book in front of him and turned to the last fresh page. He uncapped his pen, dipped it in ink, and began to write.

_      Journal Entry: April 18, 4371_

_      I've just finished packing, and I'm going to set out in a few minutes. I'm still not sure if I should even do this, or what I'll find if I do somehow find all seven chaos Emeralds. The book I was reading was a guide to mythical legends, but it's a shot. It's a sound idea anyway. The Emeralds were designed by the gods to place the power of the universe into the hands of a man. Why can't a man travel through time if he has all the Emeralds? I'm afraid that's only half of my problem, though. If...when I do go back to Robotropolis in the past, how do I still complete the mission without sacrificing Rouge? It's not like I'll be pressed on time to worry about it. If I can even go through time at all._

_      I miss her more every day. It's painful, knowing that she had to die for everyone else to live. But did she really have to die? What would have happened between us if she had lived?_

_      The weather keeps getting worse. I think the surface of Mobius, after 20 years with minimal sunlight, is finally starting to die. The oceans are already dead, except for the deepest spots with thermal vents._

_      This is my last entry to this journal. If I can succeed in my mission, this journal will never exist. _

_      I know I can bring her back._

_Knuckles_

      Knuckles closed the journal and sat thinking. He finally stood up, gathered his backpack, and walked outside. The dark sand-blown sky looked like the color of dark ashes from a fire that had burned brightly. The sun was barely discernable through the clouds and yet, for the first time in years, it set off a spark of hope in Knuckles. He felt alive. Pulling a map out of his pocket, he set off for a small swamp to the west of the mining town, where he knew the first Emerald would be. He hoped his sense of place as a guardian hadn't diminished over the years. He shifted his backpack and started west.

*****

      Tails walked into the small mining shack where he knew Knuckles should have been. Tails had been living on Angel Island with Amy for the last 19 years, after everyone had left. While they did succeed in their mission to stop the storm that was devastating the planet, the damage had already been done. The weather patterns had changed, and the dust in the upper atmosphere would probably never come down. The decision had been made by Mobians and Overlanders, and they joined forces to build the Mountain Star, a giant colony vessel that carried 2 billion Overlanders and Mobians, 95% of them in cryogenic suspension, to their new home 20 light years away. Tails did some quick math and realized that the Mountain Star was close to the edge of the Mobian system.

      "A fem more years and they'll be out." Tails said quietly to himself while rummaging through what little was left behind in the mine shack. His eyes fell across the table onto the journal that Knuckles had left behind. Tails opened the leather book and read the last entry. Without saying a word, he tucked the book into his knapsack and walked solemnly out of the hut.

      Returning to Angel Island later that day, Tails showed Amy the journal. He waited quietly until she was done reading it, and then took a seat beside her on the sofa. She closed the book softly.

      "Do you really thin he means to go through with it?" Amy asked softly. Tails nodded his head.

      "All his belongings were gone when I got there. We hadn't seen him in 2 years, so I felt I should check on him when I went down to recharge the fuel tanks." Tails opened his mouth to say something, but closed it when Amy spoke.

      "Even in the grave, she's got his heart." Tails nodded.

      "If he can do it...I'd say good for him. He deserves to be happy." Amy turned when she heard a noise behind her. It was Samantha, their oldest daughter walking in to the room. She picked up her glasses, said hi to her parents, and walked out. Amy looked after her daughter with troubled eyes.

      "Tails, she can't stay up here forever. What will happen to her after we're gone?" Tails shook his head.

      "Amy, it's not like we're going to die tomorrow...and it's not like Knuckles and us are the only people left."

*****

      Knuckles breathed in the fragrant air as he entered the swamp. All the vegetable growth had long ago died off, so the air in the swamp had just a hint of the rotting vegetation. He cautiously walked forward. Sensing no danger, he headed where he felt the Emerald to be.

      A few minutes later, he entered a clearing astounded. A small oasis in the middle of the desolate swamp. The scent of flowers, trees, and the chirping of birds filled the air. A small spring bubbled up from underground. He walked towards the fountain and saw the Emerald immediately, resting in the center.

      "If I take this...this place will die in a matter of days." Knuckles thought to himself, remembering the night he had left the greenhouse box open, where he grew Rouge's flowers. They had all been dead the next morning. He sighed ruefully, grabbing the Emerald from the cool crystal water.

      "No matter what...I'll see this through." Knuckles whispered to himself as a tear streamed down his face. HE put the Emerald in his bag and started to walk away when he heard a twig crack in the underbrush behind him. He spun around to face the brush where the sound had come from, but their was nothing there. He felt the hair rise on the back of his neck and turned slowly around. His mouth dropped in surprise and his eyes widened in recognition.

      "Rotor!?" He said in recognition. A look of distrust passed over the walrus' face and he pulled a gun out of his windbreaker. Before Knuckles could say anything, Rotor pulled the trigger. Knuckles felt something enter his arm, then there was nothing but blackness. 

*****

      When Knuckles awoke five hours later, he thought he was back in Shadow's church in Station Square. The house he was in now had that same dank quality that Knuckle's remembered about the church. He started to sit up, but his muscles screamed in agony when he tried.

      "Mmmm!" Knuckles moaned loudly, his eyes snapping open in time to catch a hand coming towards his face. The unseen person struck him.

      "Shut up!" A harsh voice commanded of Knuckles. Knuckles seethed at this kind of treatment, but stayed silent.

      "Good. Now answer me one question." A light popped on the revel Rotor sitting on a chair next to the bed. "Why were you trying to steal my Emerald? Don't you people give up?"

      Knuckles licked his lips. "I don't know who you're referring to, but I wasn't trying to steal your Emerald. My name is Knuckles. All I know of you is that your name is Rotor."

      "If what you're saying is true, how do you even know my name?"

      "Your one of the people Tails and Amy told me about. They're alive." Rotor's face went a solid color of red. He spoke in a low growl.

      "If you're toying with me, I will kill you. Can you prove what you just told me?" Knuckles reached over into his knapsack by the side of his bed and opened a hidden pocket on the side. He pulled out a picture of him, Tails, Amy, and their firstborn taken on Angel Island the very last time he visited them.

      "That picture is about 15 years old. After that day, I couldn't stand going back to the island. IT was too painful for me."

      Rotor sniffed quietly and tears filled his eyes. HE handed the picture back to Knuckles.

      "All this time...all along I thought that I was the only one that survived in Knothole during the storm. I hid in the only place I could, the underground sea docks...." Rotor shook his head smiling. "Of course, you wouldn't remember any of this. You're not from here." Rotor offered his hand to his visitor.

      "We haven't been properly introduced. My name's Rotor. What's yours?"

      "Knuckles. Former guardian of Angel Island."

*****

      After Knuckles took a shower and put on a fresh change of clothing borrowed from Rotor, Rotor took him into his library and they both sat down. Rotor lights a cigar, and when he was offered one, Knuckles did the same.

      "I'd like to say again how sorry I am about being so savage to you earlier. That Emerald is the only thing that lets me live here."

      Knuckles blew smoke out in a relaxed manor. "How did you tap the power of the Emeralds? Only Robotnik knew their secrets, and he isn't telling anyone." Rotor smiled and stood up. 

      "Au Contraire." He walked over to bookshelf and pulled out a sheath of papers that looked yellowed through age. He handed then to Knuckles. "The last scientific writings of Sir Charles Hedgehog, royal scientist for the crown of Acorn. I found them, along with a geological blueprint of Mobotropolis, in the Knothole archive the day Phoenix was activated. No one had ever seen them before because they were hidden in a time-release file."

      Knuckles began leafing through the papers and stopped on a page with a cylindrical object drawn on it. Underneath the drawing were the words: **Possible applications on biologically weakened subjects for mechanical restoration. **Knuckles head shot up. 

      "Is that what I think it is?" Knuckles asked shocked. Rotor nodded his head.

      "During my time here, I've had a chance to do more research on multiple fields of science then I ever had thought possible. Due to that, I've come to realize a simple truth about the Robotisizer that no one ever has, with the exception of Charles. The sine wave the Robotisizer exposes it's subject to is identical to the sine wave in a chaos Emerald. The prototype of the Robotisizer was designed to use a chaos Emerald, but when they locked onto the wave, the Emerald was no longer necessary." Rotor sighed. "That's when I realized that an Emerald could be used to feed into a natural system. That's how a derobotisizer works, and it's still based off of the same wave pattern." Rotor pulled the papers out of Knuckles hands and returned them to the shelf. "So," Rotor said smiling and sticking the cigar into his mouth, "What's your story?"

      Knuckles told Rotor everything, starting when he pulled himself out of his grave at the church in Station Square, to the arrival of Rouge and company, to Rouge and Knuckles falling for each other, and finally to the voice of destiny telling Knuckles what had happened.

      "Tails and Amy had to pull me out of there. They later told me I kept screaming and clawing at them, telling them that we had to go back, we had to go back and save her. I eventually calmed down when we got to a city, but I wouldn't talk to anybody. We stole a helicopter and flew up to Angel Island. Then all I did was cry. I wondered around the island during the day, trying to keep my distance from Amy and Tails. I became a recluse. After five years of this behavior, just before the Mountain Star left orbit, I-"

      "What did you say? The Mountain Star?" Rotor looked totally confused.

      "Most of the Overlander and Mobian population is gone. The planet is dying. Nothing can stop it, it's inevitable. They built a ship and now the entire surviving population is on its way to another star in cryogenic sleep. Anyway, I told them I was leaving to do some research, and they insisted that I take a picture with them. That's where I got the photo in my bag. After I left, I collected every book I could find. A few weeks ago, I started reading a book about the Emeralds. It said that a man named Rafasto once saved the planet Mobius by using the chaos Emeralds and the master Emerald to move the entire planet through time to avoid a giant 'boulder from the stars'. That's why I wanted your Emerald. I want to go after Rouge."

      Rotor stared at him for a few moments, the look in his eyes haunted. Finally, he spoke.

      "I don't know if your crazy or not, if the Emeralds really are as powerful as you say they are, but I believe you. You say you have to have all the Emeralds in order for this to work?" Knuckles nodded his head. "Ok then. Follow me."

      Rotor and Knuckles stood up and went outside, where the wind was beginning to pick up. Knuckles saw a bubble of energy surrounding the building he was just in and three others just like it. Off to one side, still inside the bubble's field, was a garden with various vegetables growing.

      "I keep the temperature inside the bubble around 74*F for comfort and horticulture purposes. Come." Rotor opened a steal lid in the ground in between the garden and his library.

      "The Emerald you were going to steal was a fake Emerald, designed to lure in thefts from the surrounding wild tribes. The real Emerald is kept down here, in a special reaction vessel. Now I'll give it to you...but I want you to do something for me."

      Knuckles nodded his head. "Anything I can. What is it?"

      "Take me with you until you find the next Emerald. With the Emerald gone, my energy source is gone. I won't be able to survive here." Knuckles hesitated for less then a second.

      "Ok. But what says that I know where the next Emerald is?"

      "You may not, but I do. There are two Emeralds inside Lower Mobius. We'll leave in the morning." Rotor shut the lid and walked away.

*****

     In the cold vastness of space, billions of stars shone in pinpricks around the Mountain Star. It's engines had long ago been shut down to save fuel, as the ship had more then enough momentum to carry it out of the Mobian system. Everyone onboard was in cryosleep, even the system operators, who were unnecessary with the onboard computer tending to the ship. It wouldn't have made a difference anyway. A meteor the size of a small car was drifting towards the ship, the magnetic ore in the rock attracted to the hull of the Mountain Star. The meteor was accelerating.

*****

      When Knuckles woke and walked into the main hut the next morning, Rotor was dressing in what looked like a rubber suit. Knuckles just stared at him blankly.

      Rotor rolled his eyes. "It's a Lead and Rubber Suit. It's the only way I can handle the Emerald while it's still inside the vessel. This is the third one I've made. The others were stolen by those idiots in the forest." Rotor finished putting the suit on and pulled the clear hood over his face. "I'll be back in a few minutes. You can have some coffee and cereal if you'd like."

      Knuckles settled down with a cup of coffee at the table and pulled the mythical text out of his bag. He sat there, reading the book and drinking his coffee until Rotor returned. Rotor handed him an Emerald.

      "One down, six to go." Rotor said with a sigh as he took off his suit. "Now, let's call Griff and arrange a meeting before the battery backup fails."

*****

      Griff closed his bloodshot eyes and began to rub his temples. Two more Lower Mobian citizens had been killed this morning in another tunnel cave-in. At this rate, all tunnels heading west would be caved-in within three weeks. This was the second tunnel this week alone they had lost.

      "And it's all because of that damn earthquake…" He said softly to himself, sneering as the words came out of his mouth. "We try and try to reinforce the tunnels to repair the damage, but eventually they're all going to give way. And my city will be dead."

      Griff sat up as a knocking sounded at his door. Dirk walked in and handed Griff a clipboard. "Those are the latest projections on the tunnel strength. It's accelerating."

      "I know. I know." Griff sighed and dropped the clipboard onto his desk. "We may have to end up evacuating the remaining citizens to Angel Island. Tails and Amy of the Knothole Freedom Fighters are the only ones up there. I'm sure that if they knew of our situation, they'd offer us space on the island.

      Dirk shook his head. "I hope it doesn't come to that."

      Griff frowned. "I hope not. This place has been our home for a long time…"

      Just then the radio on Griff's desk came to life.

      "Lower Mobius, this is Knothole. Come in please."

      Griff grabbed the microphone and clicked the radio to send. "This is Lower Mobius. Go ahead Knothole."

      "Griff, this is Rotor. I have something I need to discuss with you. It's very important."

      A confused look passed over Griff and Dirk's faces. "What is it, Rotor?"

      They heard him sigh heavily on the other end. "Griff, what would it take for me to convince you to release to me the Chaos Emeralds you have?"

      Griff and Dirk just stared at each other for what seamed like forever. Finally, Griff clicked on the radio again. "Um, Rotor? Say that again, please?"

      "What would it take for you to give me your Chaos Emeralds?"

      "I'm afraid that we couldn't do that even if we wanted to. The energy crystal is completely dead and-"

      "I'll give you my entire harvest."

      "…and it would be difficult to restart the entire system. Plus, the power stone you gave us won't provide enough energy to make oxygen for the colony."

      "I'll give you all my batteries. And the other half of the Power Stone. Can you be here tonight to pick it all up and make the trade?"

      Griff held his hand over the microphone. "Dirk, with that much energy, we could save a few of the tunnels."

      Dirk looked to be deep in thought. Finally, he looked at Griff and nodded. "It would be worth it."

      Griff reopened the mic. "Rotor? We'll see you tonight around six with a couple of freighters to carry the stuff."

      "Just bring enough people to load and harvest." Rotor killed the transmission. Dirk just looked at Griff.

      "Is he insane?"

      "Does it really matter?"

      Dirk shrugged. "Not really. I'll make the arrangements." Dirk walked out of Griff's office. For the first time in weeks, Griff actually felt good.

*****

      When Rotor turned the radio off, Knuckles nodded his head and smiled. "Thanks Rotor, for everything."

      All Rotor said was: "Three down, four to go."

      Suddenly Knuckles snapped his fingers. "Four down, three to go! I just remembered where one Emerald is! Since I can use my Emerald tracking ability, one of the Emeralds must be near the Master Emerald.

      When Rotor heard this, recognition of the words flashed across his face. "Knuckles, when the transport arrives, direct their activities. I need to go check something." Without another work, Rotor left the building. He walked over to the Library and went in.

      Knuckles shook his head. "I wonder what that was all about?"

*****

      After Knuckles exchanged everything for the Emeralds, he walked into the library to find Rotor grinning like a mad fool. He was holding a piece of yellowed paper in his hands and reading by candlelight.

      "Rotor, what are you doing?"

      Rotor looked at Knuckles in surprise. "I didn't hear you come in. Is the trade complete?" In reply, Knuckles held up his bag.

      "Execlent. Now we just have to head to Angel Island."

      Knuckles furrowed his forehead in deep confusion. "We still have three more to pick up."

      "That's just it. You're a guardian. You don't have to pick them up. You can order the server emeralds to come to the Master. Read this paper:

Pouv'ir e' U'e

Pouv'ir e' Ent'er

Ve'be I'I l'e pouv'ires

Po'r le'u'l I'I cr'i

A deman'e d' l'e U'e

Qui'i ten'r l'e cl' ee'n ent'er

A deman'e ee'n l'e ma'tr'

Fa're l'e Serve're Ve'nir

      Knuckles studied the piece of paper hard for a moment, then looked up at Rotor. "This is an Emerald Enchantment, and if I translated this right, it says: Power of One, Power of All, Give me the powers for which I call, A request from the one who holds the key to all, A request to the Master to make the Servers come…"

      Rotor nodded his head. "Pray to the Master Emerald using that, and you should recall all the Chaos Emeralds to their original locations around the Master Emerald."

      Knuckles sighed. "After fifteen years, I'm finally going to see Amy and Tails again…"

      Rotor laughed. "Hey, it's been twenty years for me!"

      Knuckles smiled. "It will be so good to see them again…"

      Rotor closed his eyes. "Let's go home.

End of Chapter 2

Chapter 3: The Forgiven will be coming soon. Please R&R. Keep good Fanfiction alive!


	3. The Forgiven

The Fallen

Chapter 3/3

The Forgiven

Brian Bloomfield

      Knuckles and Rotor both shook Griff's hand one more time.

      Rotor shook his head gratefully. "Man, Griff. I can't tell you how grateful we are that you threw a Fuel Cell in with the deal. I can't believe mine went dead."

      Knuckles nodded in agreement. "Yeah, without this cell, our plan would be finito."

      Griff cocked his head and shrugged. "Well, you guys sure did give us more then enough in return. In fact, I would have given a cargo hauler to you instead of the cell, but I couldn't spare one with everything you gave us. By the way, I am just a little curious as to what you're going to do with these emeralds. You did mention your plan…but you never went into any detail."

      After a moment of hesitation, Rotor glanced at Knuckles. "It's your call."

      Knuckles bit his lower lip, and spoke. "Well Griff, let me put it like this. I'm going back in time to save the woman I love, and I need the emeralds to do it."

      Griff lost all color in his face. After being quiet for a moment, he turned to Rotor. "Is he sane?"

      Rotor nodded his head. "He showed me his book about the powers of the emeralds. It's the real deal.

      Griff grabbed Knuckles' shoulders. "How far back are you going?"

      Knuckles sighed. "I have an exact date to focus on. I know exactly where I need to go. June 5th, 4351, over Robotropolis."

      Griff grinned. "The day the storm ended. Do you realize what you can do now?"

      Until that moment, Knuckles was consumed wholly with the thought of saving Rouge. It never even occurred to him he might be able to save everyone else along with her.

      "Holy shit…" Knuckles said weakly. He felt his legs wobble beneath him. He took several deep breaths.

      Griff laughed. "Exactly!"

      Griff's beeper went off. He looked at the display. His face went an ashen color.

      "Oh my God…I have to get back right away. Rotor, Knuckles." They nodded at the goat as he got in one of the transports. The entire fleet sped off into the forest.

      Rotor shook his head. "I wonder what that was all about…Oh well; our cargo ship is loaded up. Ready to go?"

      Knuckles shrugged. "Time is like a frozen pond for me to skate across now. Gilmore, one of my favorite poets said that. It's true for me now, isn't it?"

Rotor nodded. "In a way Knuckles, it's true for us all. Now it's true for us all." 

Rotor and Knuckles boarded the cargo ship and closed the hatch. A moment later it took off into the Mobian sky.

*****

       "Griff, we have bad news and we have worse news." Dirk said to his leader as soon as he entered the control room.

      Griff shook his head and sighed. "What's the bad news?

      "The north tunnel is starting to buckle. I've reallocated power to the tunnel, but all the other tunnels are getting unstable from the power loss."

      "No worry. I'm having the energy workers install the other half of the Power Stone now. We'll have practically unlimited power from now on. See? The new half just got attached. Look at those power readings!"

      Dirk smiled as he readjusted the power in the cavern. His face went dark again after he was finished. "There's something else, Griff. I haven't told anyone else yet…"

      Dirk kicked his chair to another console and punched in his access code. The Lower Mobians also acted like a sort of Mission Control for the Mountain Star, and this was the telescope observatory console. Griff brought the telescope on the Mountain Star's position. Or where the Mountain Star should have been.

      "Its gone sir…She's gone, right in thin air…"

      Griff sat at the open operators console and gazed at the image on the screen. "Impossible!" Griff shouted. A glint of light caught his eye. He sat the telescope to auto-track the spaceship's path. After the telescope was calibrated, He zoomed the image in.

      Closer.

      And Closer.

      Closer.

      Finally, Griff found what he was looking for. Bodies floated free among twisted sheets of steel, some still in leaking cryotubes. The Mountain Star had been destroyed.

      Griff sat back in shock. Finally, he spoke. "Well, Knuckles, it's all in your hands now."

*****

      Knuckles felt his body being pulled backwards as the transport lifted off from Knothole for the last time. The miniature colony, without the Chaos emerald to power it, was completely dead. Rotor set his course and the transport headed up towards the cloud ceiling so many feet up. Knuckles was going to say something to Rotor, but he suddenly blacked out. He immediately began to dream.

*****

      Knuckles awoke to the sound of an iron forge in full swing, the smell of melting iron and steal filling his nostrils. His back ached slightly, and he realized that he was lying on a metallic table of sorts. He opened his eyes to discover he was in a blacksmith's forge. Four individuals stood on each side of the table, each wearing a festive mask of a sort, except the mask sent a foreboding chill through Knuckle's body. Three of the "people", if they could be called that, were the Ancient Walkers, and even with the mask on, he recognized Destiny as the fourth figure.

      The man to his right nodded his head at the others. "Very well. Let us begin." Each figure picked up a small earthen container off of an unseen platform surrounding the table. They each took a turn at the head of the table, each smearing a substance on Knuckle's forehead. He tried to move, and discovered, to no surprise, that he was unable to. After each had finished, they began to chant in an unusual tongue, something that Knuckles, even in his former dealing with the walkers, was unfamiliar with. Suddenly they stopped and removed their masks. Nothing but a vast, empty darkness was underneath, except for Destiny, whose shining face was once again reveled.

      "It is done. It is in the guardians hands now. There is nothing more we can do." All four backed away from the table, disappearing into the inky darkness surrounding Knuckles.

      Knuckles felt himself rise into the air, and he was suddenly he was awake, remembering nothing of the Rite. They had just landed on Angel Island, and Tails was walking towards their craft. It was time. Knuckles sighed and opened the door. Rotor soon followed.

*****

      At the sight of Knuckles, Tails felt his mouth drop open. It was a natural reaction, as he hadn't seen his friend in 15 years. The last time Tails tried to visit him, the echidna hid from him. He walked up to Knuckles, who had hopped out while Rotor shut the transport down. Tails held out his hand, which Knuckles gripped tightly and shook. Tails slowly nodded his head.

      "It's good to see you again Knuckles. It appears that the years have been agreeable to you. You've hardly changed." Knuckles smiled at the fox.

      "The same goes for you, my friend. I'm glad I've finally come back…I've missed you and Amy."

      Tails nodded towards the house. "Ames and Sam are inside the house." Tails then realized there was someone still in the craft. "Knux, who did you bring with you?"

      Just before Rotor climbed out of the ship, Knuckles laughed at Tails. "A very old friend of yours."

      "Oh Destiny…Rotor!" Tails ran over to his old mentor and hugged him. "We thought you had died in the destruction of Knothole!" Rotor shrugged. "I barely made it to the underground dock before the storm hit. How's Amy? I hear you have a daughter? What's her name?"

      "Sam. Both of you, enough questions!" Tails laughed. "Just come inside!"

      They both followed Tails into his home.

*****

      As they entered, Tails winked at Amy, who nodded curtly back. Her eyes swelled up to the size of tea saucers when she saw Knuckles and Rotor walk in. She jumped over to them and squeezed them into a bear hug. "I never thought I'd see you two again!" She leaned back away from them. "Knuckles, welcome home." Knuckles smiled at her, his eyes misting up. Even after 15 years, he was still their friend. "Thanks Ames." She turned to Rotor. "Where in the world have you been? We thought you were dead!" He laughed and nodded. "Well, I've been piecing together the remains of Knothole, and I've learned more about Chaos Emeralds and related technology then Robotnik ever knew, maybe even Charles." She let go of both of them. "Sit down, please. We have a lot to talk about."

      All four people took a seat at the square table. A crystal vase of pink Carnations sat in the middle.

      "Tail, Amy, I'm going to go right to the heart of the matter, but if I can do what I'm planning to do, then we can have 20 years to catch up on the last 15." They all looked at him funny, as he realized too late that you can't talk about time travel in present tense. He shook his head and continued. "What I'm saying is this: I'm going to use the chaos eme-" Tails cut Knuckles off.

      "We know Knuckles. The emerald chamber is already unlocked." Tails pulled Knuckles journal out from under the table and handed it to him. He shook his friend's hand. "Whatever happens Knuckles, I hope we see you on the flip side." Knuckles gripped the bound book, finally setting it down on the table. He smiled at all of them.

      "No need to take this with me. If all goes well…it will never exist." Knuckles walked over to the closet in the corner. By pushing on a certain spot on the wall, a hidden elevator opened up. He looked back one more time. 

      "Good-bye, my friends." Knuckles pushed the down button, and the elevator doors slid shut. He began his descent into the abyss of Angel Island's interior.

*****

      "Hello Guardian. It has been 15 years, 3 months, 14 days, 15 hours, and 27 minutes since your last visit." The emerald spoke to Knuckles in the rich tongue of the ancient echidna, which only Knuckles could understand. He sat in front of the emerald, which was shining brightly, and began to meditate. He always did this before taking control of the Master. If he lost focus while in control of the powerful emerald, he could cause the island to break in half from the sudden out rush of power.

      He began to think of Rouge, and the last time he had saw her alive. He remembered her as being so youthful, so vibrant. Personally, he thought that is was a sin that she was taken out of the world. He sighed deeply, the deep wounds on his soul slowly reopening with fresh pain. He gritted his teeth tightly and grabbed the emerald. It flared at his touch, at the raw emotion pouring from his soul.

      "Not this time. Not this time…" Knuckles intoned the Chaos Emerald chant, his voice rising in fury so he almost screamed the last line. "Fa're l'e Serve're Ve'nir!"

           The chamber shook with energy as the long reaching powers of the Master Emerald was awakened. It was sending out the command. The four remaining emeralds were coming home.

      Fifteen minutes later, all the emeralds, including the ones collected so far by Knuckles, were perched atop the master in a star shape.

      Knuckles cracked his neck and grabbed hold of the master emerald one last time. This time only two things filled his mind; the date he was headed two, and the thought of Rouge.

      Knuckles gasped as a cold chill suddenly filled him. Everything around him in the chamber seemed less…real then it was the moment before, With the exception of the master emerald and the seven servers. He gasped as he saw a ghost of himself walk backwards and get into the elevator. He realized he was in a time shift.

      "This is it, now or never." Knuckles placed all of his willpower on that date so many years ago, so many miles and lives ago. It was hard to explain, but he felt himself slide away from his physical self. After that, there was nothing but darkness.

*****

      Knuckles exhaled sharply as all of his senses overwhelmed him at once. The acrid smell of smoke filled the battleground where he stood. The empty, scarred landscape was filled with twisted metal and sand. He recognized it as Robotropolis after the Phoenix had been detonated.

      "Oh my god, this is before the battle ever took place." Knuckles looked at his watch, and saw he was a day early.

      Suddenly, all around him thousands of sentinels erupted through the rubble, and Knuckles realized that he had arrived just before Bunnie was Robotisized. He focused, and found that his willpower over time around him was still active. He just couldn't travel back further without the emeralds. He quickly stopped time before the sentinels spotted him. He jumped up and began to glide through the air, looking for the hatch to the main computer. After a few moments he found it. He had stopped time just before the hatch had sealed fully, so he quickly jumped inside the underground chamber. It was dark, but Knuckles gradually began to make out a pair of red eyes in the darkness.

      It was Bunnie.

      She was Robotisized.

      As this was the instrument of death for Rouge, he really couldn't bring himself to feel much pity for this mechanical slave, but none the less, he did feel pity. How could he not? How could anyone not?

      He opened a grate in the corner of the room, next to a display console. He climbed inside and unfroze time. As he did so, he felt the residual power from the emeralds drain out of him. He was here, all alone, with no weapon, and a killer rabbit less then 15 feet away. It didn't matter, as he soon found out. He heard the rabbit go about its business, whatever its "business" was. He realized there was nothing left to do. Nothing but to sleep, and to wait, and to hope. Hope for himself. Hope for Rogue. Hope for everyone.

*****

Above the computer compartment, the laser turrets were firing at full speed, but the storm was interfering with their lock-on. Inside the computer room, Bunnie Rabbot stood at attention. Her display flashed a single, simple message: PRIORITY ONE: PROTECT PHOENIX MAINFRAME

      The laser gun on her arm rotated barrels, increasing the laser power. She was ready for the intruders. Nothing will interrupt her master's plan. Nothing.

*****

      Tails opened the rear cargo door as another blast hit the Tornado. They all jumped from the plane into the open air behind the plane. They were way past the outer edge of the storm and could see the city they were diving toward. The city itself was in ruins, as far as they could see. A sea of robotic soldiers stood ready as the laser turrets took out the Tornado. It blew apart in a ball of flame, wreckage flying everywhere. They all opened their chutes.

*****

      Tails, upon hitting the ground, pulled out a machine gun Rouge had found and started shooting robots with it. Wave after wave came toward him, and he soon found himself running out of ammo for the gun. The robots never slowed down, just walked over their fallen counterparts. He discarded the empty machine pistol and pulled his handguns, placing shots into the heads of the soldiers. Soon, he was out of ammo for those too. He started punching the robots, realizing he was fighting a futile battle.

      'Well, at least I'll go out swinging.' Tails thought to himself as he ducked a punch from a robot and quickly came back up with a right hook.

*****

      Amy was running out of ammo. Her arrow quiver was now empty, and her last clip had five shots left. She quickly used those and started thinking quickly. She had only one idea to survive, and she didn't know if it would work.

      "I hope Sonic knew what he was talking about." Amy murmured to herself as she jumped into the air and began to spin sideways, pointing her shoes downward. Hitting the ground, she burrowed down beyond the robots reach.

      "Sorry guys. I'm out of the fight." Amy sighed, trying to get comfortable in her hideout.

*****

      Rouge pushed the button on the EMP device she had brought and all the robots in a 10 foot radius of her dropped. Robots continued to pile up as they tried to walk toward their newly acquired target. She had seen the gleaming cover to the computer core from the air and turned to land near it. She tried to pull the cover open, but it was sealed tight. She pulled out a small cutting torch and cut a hole in the sheet of steel. She grabbed her bag and jumped into the hole.

      Landing gracefully, Rouge saw the computer instantly. She tossed her bag against the machine and turned toward the exit. She came face to face with the robotisized Bunnie. She was sent sailing across the room by an uppercut from the solid metal fist.

      "Going somewhere?" Bunnie asked in a metallic voice, dripping with contempt. On the main monitor, a small window opened, reporting Mind Control, 5% complete.

      "You all believe in Destiny." Bunnie spoke softly, walking over to the stunned Rouge. She was dragged roughly off of the floor by the back of her neck. Yelping in pain, Rouge was brought to Bunnie's face.

      "Robotnik is the only GOD! Before you leave here, you will be touched, cleansed of the flesh, the temptation, by his holy device, as I was." Bunnie dropped Rouge back to the floor and sharply kicked her in the ribs. "DO YOU SEE!?" Bunnie shouted at Rouge.

      Gasping slowly, she thought of Knuckles, and what the future may have held.

      'I'm sorry Knuckles.' Rouge silently thought to herself as she pushed herself up and pulled a small remote out of her pocket.

*****

      The second the remote was pulled out of Rouge's pocket, the full realization hit him, the realization that she had been willing to sacrifice so much, for him and the others. Why shouldn't he do the same? As he opened the cover on the floor and stood up, ready to attack, one thought was on his mind.

      She won't be taken from me again.

*****

      Rouge saw Knuckles stand up a second before she was going to detonate the bomb. Her finger pressed hard to the right of the detonation button, and she dropped the remote.

      Rabbot began to laugh. "An explosive device? That's about the only way your going to destroy me!"

      Knuckles stepped forward and saw that Rabbot was standing in front of a high voltage electrical box. It was a backup to the primary that fed the main computer. He tapped Rabbot on the shoulder. "Excuse me."

      She turned in surprise at someone else being in the room. She had barely enough time to register his species when he spoke again.

      "Try this one out then." Knuckles leaped into the air and kicked Bunnie as hard as he could in the chest plate. She flew backwards into the power box. High amperage electricity immediately shorted out all of her critical systems. A few moments later, all of her systems crashed and she was dead. The electrical box now dead along with her, she collapsed to the concrete floor powerless and remained still. Knuckles turned and looked at Rouge, still crumpled on the floor. After a moment of shock, she jumped to her feet and bear-hugged him. She began to weep, and Knuckles did the only thing he could think of. He stood their, holding her and trying to calm her down. After a few moments, she pulled away from him and looked in his eyes.

      "You knew I was in trouble, and you came for me."

      Knuckles smiled at her. "You have no idea just how right you are."

      She did nothing, except gave him a kiss. In the first time in eons, Knuckles actually felt there was a reason to live.

      Knuckles looked Rouge in the eyes. "Marry me."

      She kissed him again. "We've only known each other for a few days, and I did kill you."

      He faltered, and when he spoke next, his voice was shaky. "I have something to tell you, Rouge. I was never here when I should have been. Outside…well…outside, there is another Knuckles. He's the one that truly belongs here, with you. I'm from 20 years in the future, and you were going to die today." Knuckles felt the power of the chaos emeralds beginning to return, and he knew he was on the right path. He knew there was one last thing for him to do.

      "I have to leave right now, but that man outside…he loves you. Trust me, I know. Don't make him wait twenty years." He let the power of the emeralds flow through him, and his spirit began to leave the time he was in. His last act was to brush his fingers against Rouge's cheek. "Goodbye."

      Knuckles let the darkness consume him, this time letting himself completely go into the ether. His job was done. It was time for him to rest.

*****

Twenty Years Later, on Angel Island

*****

      Knuckles read the last entry into his journal and closed the cracked leather book. He had found the book a few days ago lying on the grass, and it gave him insight into a world he never even knew existed. He know knew how Rouge was able to defeat Bunnie Rabbot. She had gotten assistance from him, oddly enough. And because of that, they were able to hack into the Phoenix mainframe and cancel the storm properly. Mobius was healthy again, it's oceans a bright sparkeling blue and the plains and forests a deep emerald green.

      "Knuckles? It's dinnertime! Plus you promised Gray you would help him with his emerald control!" Rouge called from the house, right next to Tails and Amy's house. Knuckles smiled at the mention of Gray, their 14 year old son. He was training to be the next guardian of Angel Island. In his father's eyes, he would make a fine guardian. "And perhaps someday a fine husband to Sam." Knuckles mused out loud, thinking of the growing relationship between Knuckles and Tails children.

      He stood to began to head for the house when something stopped him. He would discuss the journal and the past with Rouge tonight, that much was for sure, but did he really need the journal anymore? It told some of his past, and of a future that had never come to pass in his eyes. He was standing on the edge of Angel Island, and they were currently passing over Station Square, the world capital after the Phoenix disaster. He let the journal slip from his grasp and watched as it began to fall to the ground, far below. He turned to head for the house. As he went, he laughed a little and began to whistle. Yes sir, things were certainly looking up.

*****

      Brian stopped and looked at the strange book lying cracked and damaged in his back yard. He kneeled down and opened the cover. He began to read the scrawling script he recognized as an echidna's cursive:

      _Journal Entry: __April 16, 4371___

_      It's been twenty years since that last battle, and my tale is finally told. After that…_

The End

Saturday, April 24, 2004


End file.
